in the extreme North. 85 



gorge opens, bounded by walls with extremely wild ravines, at 

 the bottom of which were accumulated large masses of hardened 

 snow ; at the end a nearly vertical wall of basalt, crowned by 

 a glacier, rises to a height of about 2000 feet. 



Mr. Whymper traversed the Waigat at this point in order 

 to visit the south-west side of the peninsula of Noursoak, 

 along which he regained Atanekerdluk. The treasures pre- 

 viously collected had been increased by interesting objects of 

 antiquity ; for Mr. Whymper having caused diggings to be 

 made in the localities of ruined Esquimaux huts which had 

 long been abandoned, had found there weapons and utensils 

 of flint and bone, which appear to have a great analogy to 

 those of our lake-habitations. The little vessel could hardly 

 contain all these riches. After a tiresome and dangerous pas- 

 sage, the explorers arrived first at Ritenbenk and afterwards 

 at Godhaven, the residence of the Inspector of North Green- 

 land. There they embarked on the 10th of September for 

 Europe, and arrived in Copenhagen on the 22nd of October. 



It is to be regretted that Mr. Whymper lost precious time in 

 his attempts to penetrate into the interior of the country by the 

 glaciers ; for he thus rendered it impossible for him to visit the 

 north side of Noursoak, where there lies buried a very inter- 

 esting Cretaceous flora, which I had particularly recommended 

 him to work at. Nevertheless the collection which he brought 

 back to London, and which was afterwards sent to me for 

 examination, is of considerable scientific value. Exhibited at 

 present in the British Museum, it has notably added to our 

 knowledge of the ancient flora of Greenland ; so that the ima- 

 gination may now clearly picture the aspect of these northern 

 countries during the Miocene period. I will beg leave to indi- 

 cate rapidly a few of its features. 



At the period when the sandstones which compose the 

 smiling hills of the environs of Zurich were deposited, a con- 

 siderable extent of terra firma must have existed in the extreme 

 north. To this period the name of Miocene has been given, or 

 more generally that of the Tertiary jjeriod. Our countries 

 then had almost a tropical climate. Among the forests of 

 laurels and the tufts of palm trees lived numerous animals 

 belonging to types which now-a-days occur only in the warm 

 and, even, torrid zones. Towards the north, indeed, the ground 

 was clothed in a diflerent vesture ; nevertheless Greenland, 

 even at 70° N. lat., presents a flora which, by its climatic 

 characters, may be compared with that of northern Italy. This 

 flora teaches us that in the region where the Island of Disco 

 and Atenekerdluk are situated, there was a lake of fresh water, 

 upon the marshy edges of which great beds of peat were 



