August 1 6, 1883] 



NATURE 



373 



large ravines in the northern part of the island are filled 

 with glaciers, and the southern land would appear to be 

 but little intersected by vales or ravines. Of brooks or 

 rivulets very few have been observed. A characteristic 

 feature, distinguishing the coast of Jan Mayen, are the 

 fantastic-shaped rocks that in many places rise abruptly 

 from the sea, of which we have mentioned several. They 

 are no doubt in greater part fragments of lava detached 

 from currents that had flowed into the sea. 



"The coasts of Jan Mayen are, as previously stated, 

 in many places lofty and precipitous. In some localities, 

 however, there is a low expanse of foreshore consisting of 

 lava, partially covered with sand. This foreshore, which 

 is separately marked on the map, lies so low in places as 





'*&%?&& 



•F10. 5. 



to be covered with driftwood. Some localities, too, 

 exhibit a low sandy beach, bestrewn with large quantities 

 of driftwood, the jaws and vertebra: of whales, bits of 

 wreck, and seaweed. 



"Nowhere on the shores of Jan Mayen has a harbour 

 been found that could afford a ship or a boat shelter in 

 all kinds of weather. 1 Hence, to land is possible only 

 with the sea comparatively smooth, which it rarely is, 

 save when drift-ice encompasses the island. Specially 

 noteworthy are the two lagoons, cut off from the sea by 

 barriers of black sand, only a few feet high and a couple 

 of hundred paces broad. They both contain fresh water, 

 the surface of which lies but very little above that of the 

 sea. The lagoon on the west side of the island is deep 

 enough to afford a good harbour were the barrier cut 





with a belt of snow, from which prodigious glaciers take 

 their origin, nine of the largest reaching down to the 

 water's edge. The southern part of the island would not 

 appear to be glaciated. Large patches of snow are 

 everywhere observed throughout the summer in the 

 vicinity of the sea. 



" Jan Mayen has but a meagre flora. Bright herbage, 

 however, is not wanting ; the green carpet of moss, in 

 places of considerable extent, forms a striking and 

 pleasant contrast to the black, brown, and red of the 

 surrounding rocks. The plants collected by Dr. Danielssen 



Fig. 6. 



through to a sufficient depth. The lagoon on the east 

 side is comparatively shallow. 



"Jan Mayen lies wholly within the Greenland Arctic 

 current. At a depth of from 10 to 20 fathoms the tem- 

 perature of the sea is all the year round below zero. In 

 the winter there is frequently open water off the coasts of 

 Jan Mayen, sealers often passing to the west of the 

 island. The summer is naturally cold, from the presence 

 of ice-cold water so near the surface of the sea. The 

 northern part of Jan Mayen rises, at a height of about 

 23CO feet, into the region of perpetual frost. The upper 

 cone of Mount Beerenberg is snow-capped, save on the 

 steepest parts of its declivity, where the black mountain- 

 wall is seen protruding. The base of Beerenberg is girt 



1 Liltle Sand Bay would appear, according to the account in the 

 "Zeespiegel," 10 be a good harbour for boats, protected as it is by an 

 outlying chain of islets. 





on the isthmus south of Mary Muss Bay, are, according 

 to Prof. A. Blytt, as follows : — 



" Saxifraga caspitosa, L. 



„ nivalis, L. 



„ oppositifolia, L. 



„ rivularis, L. 



Ranunculus glacialis, L. 

 Halianthus peploides, Fr. 

 Cerastium alpinum, L. ? 

 Draba corymbosa, R. Br. 

 Cochlearia officinalis, L. 

 Oxyria digyna, Campd. 

 Catabrosa algida, Fr. 



"Of mammiferous animals, the Polar Fox, Cam's lagopus, 

 is by no means rare on Jan Mayen. Of birds, Mr. Friele 

 has noted the following species : — 



" Somateria mollissima, Leach. — Rare. 

 Larus glaums, Briin. — Common. 

 Fulmams glacialis, Lin. — Exceedingly abundant. 

 Grylle Mandti, Licht. — Abundant. 

 Uria aara, Schlegel. — Abundant. 

 Mergulus alle, Lin. — Abundant. 

 Tringa maritima f 



"If the land fauna of the island is meagre, that of the 

 sea is proportionately rich, a fact which the numerous 

 zoological memoirs published in this General Report will 

 sufficiently attest." 



