190 Discoveries of the " Polaris." 



land to the north and west, which they estimated to 

 extend as far north as 84°. It also appears that, 

 while the south coast of Greenland is gradually 

 subsiding, the north is rising. As a proof of this, 

 Dr. Bessels brought away a sea-water shrimp which 

 he had taken out of a fresh-water pond, thirty-eight 

 feet above the sea level; and he picked up some 

 marine shells at an elevation of 1,200 feet above the 

 sea. A mussel shell, in 81° 45', was found at a 

 height of 1,600 feet. 



The coast of Greenland extends only as far as 

 82° 30' N., whence it trends away to the eastward, 

 and there seems to be little doubt of its insularity. 

 It is steep and precipitous, and is free from land 

 ice ; while the shores of Grinnell Land on the oppo- 

 site side, appear to be low and shelving, and have 

 fast ice attached to them. The extreme northern 

 point of Grinnell Land appeared to reach about the 

 same latitude as the north-west point of Greenland, 

 or a little further to the north, and then to trend 

 away to the westward, leaving a channel between 

 these two countries and a northern land visible at a 

 distance of sixty miles. This would place the latter 

 in about 84° N. 



There was a current flowing down the strait 

 from the north ; and a small piece of drift wood 

 was picked up in 82° N". It was a bit of pine wood, 

 about a foot long. In the same latitude Mr. Chester, 

 the mate, discovered a great deal of drift wood, 



