Nov. 2 2, 1883 J 



NA TURE 



79 



two days of the month that rain began to fall, and even 

 then in small amounts. . . . 



(Signed) " W. L. Dallas, 



Assistant Meteorological Reporter 

 to the Government of India" 



f The above extracts speak for themselves. The results 

 do not accord precisely with the terms of the prediction, 

 inasmuch as the rains, instead of being simply retarded, 

 penetrated for about a fortnight to the Upper Provinces, 

 and then gave place to the dry north-west winds, which 

 are characteristic of periods of drought. But there is no 

 reason to regard the snows as inactive during this rainy 

 interval. At Simla this rainy period was one of frequent 

 thunderstorms and on more than one occasion of hail,' 

 and in fine intervals the existence overhead of the ominous 

 north-west wind was established by the steady drift of the 

 higher clouds {cirro-cuiiiuliis, &c.). The outflow of dense 

 air from the snow-fields was therefore active, although it 

 was onlv at a later period that it descended to the level 

 of the 'lower hills ; and then, chiefly as the result of 

 diurnal convection, to the plains of North-Western India. 

 The full discussion of the evidence for the dependence 

 of dry winds on the snowfall will be undertaken else- 

 where. It must not, however, be supposed that the 

 Himalayan snows are to be regarded as the sole cause of 

 drought. Causes of wider incidence are sometimes in 

 operation. Thus, in 1876 and 1877, an unusually high 

 atmospheric pressure prevailed over nearly the whole 

 of Asia and Australia. Whether there was any unusual 

 accumulation of snow on the vast mountain tracts of 

 Central Asia or over the northern plains in those years 

 would be an interesting subject of inquiry were the means 

 of information forthcoming. H. F. B. 



W^ 



NOKDENSKJuLD'S GREENLAND 

 EXPEDITION'^ 



T'E give a few extracts from Baron Nordenskjold's 

 concluding letters on his journey down the west 

 coast of Greenland and his visit to the east coast :^— 



At Ivigtut a visit was made to a valley which, on 

 account of its copious flora, has been named Gronnedal 

 (Green valley), and another to the spot where the inland 

 ice falls into the .Arsuktjord. In the former place Dr. 

 Nathorst found, in a kind of syenite, a blue mineral which 

 seems to be sodalite. This discovery is chiefly remark- 

 able from the circumstance that this mineral is also found 

 in the vicinity of the small kryolite deposit at the Umen 

 mountain in the Ural, which seems to indicate that a kind 

 of relation exists between these two minerals, both strong 

 in natron,' which circumstance may be of service to the 

 geologist in search of krsolite. From the excursion to 

 Gronnedal Herr Kolihoff brought with him some rare 

 butterflies and other insects, while of the botanical finds 

 there were splendid specimens in bloom of Linncra 

 borealis, which is quite plentiful about Ivigtut. It has 

 not before been known to exi=t in Greenland. The 

 zoologists found only three kinds of land mollusks, viz. a 

 physa, a vitrina, and a helix, which were all few in number. 

 The entomological harvest consisted of a few beetles, 

 butterflies, and insects of other kinds. 



t-n their way to Julianehaab, as they steamed down the 

 narrow fjord in pitch darkness and a perfect calm, "we 

 saw suddenly behind the vessel on the surface of the sea 

 a broad but clearly defined band of light. It shone with 

 a steady, yellowish light, somewhat like that of phos- 

 phorescent elements, while, in spite of the speed main- 

 tained, viz. four to six knots, the band came nearer and 

 nearer. When it reached the ship it seemed as if we 



' These accumpaniments are characteristic of the sprii]g rainfall both on 

 the hills and the plains, not of the monsoon rains, and indicate demonstrably 

 in most cases the existence of a dry upper current. 



' C-ntirti-H f-n~ ,, 43 



were steaming through a sea of fire or molten metal. 

 After a while the light travelled beyond the vessel, and 

 we saw it at last disappear on the horizon. Unfortunately 

 I had not an opportunity of examining it with the spec- 

 troscope. It was beyond doubt of a difterent nature to 

 the bluish-white phosphorescent light, which throughout its 

 appearance was seen distinctly in our wake, and as the 

 Hght was perfectly steady it cannot have been caused by 

 the phosphorescence from a passing shoal of fish. A 

 shoal of fish would have occasioned some stir in the sea, 

 but in this case the surface was calm throughout, while 

 phosphorescence from the same would have been bluish 

 in character, not jellowas this was. The Esquimaux stated 

 that a glacier river in the vicinity shed a thin layer of 

 brackish clay-water over the surface of the fjord, and 

 fancied that this circumstance was in some way or another 

 connected with this grand phenomenon, which they them- 

 selves had never before witnessed. There was at the 

 time no aurora visible, the sky being covered with clouds. 

 The cause of this remarkable phenomenon, which made 

 the Sophia seem to steam through a sea of fire for fully 

 fifteen minutes, I have been unable to ascertain ; maybe 

 it was a phenomenon such as this which made Lig- 

 Lodin, of the Greenland Saga, relate to King Harald 

 Sigurdson that he had once sailed over a spot where the 

 sea was on fire." 



At Fredriksdal Nordenskjold engaged two Esquimaux 

 to act as pilots in the sounds on the east coast, north of 

 Cape Farewell. One of them stated that remains of 

 buildings, which were not built by the Esquimaux, 

 are to be found in nearly every great fjord on the 

 east coast, particularly in the large ones of Umanak, 

 Ekaleumiut, and Igdluluarsiut. Entire walls do not 

 remain standing, but though low they are extensive. 

 The largest ruin is said to exist at Igdluluarsiut. A 

 fine kind of soft stone is to be found on an island south 

 of Umanak, from which pots were made to three feet in 

 diameter. This mineral deposit is of special interest in 

 reference to the ethnography of Greenland, as the 

 Umanak fjord is situated in lat. 63°. This name is, how- 

 ever, a common one for places among the natives. Ivar 

 Baardsen, in his famous description of Greenland, states 

 that a soft stone was found on Reno, outside the Eina- 

 fjord, from which the largest vessels were made. Cannot 

 the mineral deposit at Umanak be identical with this ? 

 These statemenis, as well as others received from the 

 "Eastlanders," and the remarkable Norse characteristics 

 possessed by the same, which the missionary Hans Egede 

 pointed out long ago, seem to Baron Nordenskjold to 

 refute the theory now mostly advanced as to the Norse 

 colonies, viz. that they were situated on the south-west 

 coast of Greenland. 



In spite of predictions of failure and even disaster 

 before he left Europe, Nordenskjold decided to attempt 

 to land on the east coast, south of the Arctic circle. 

 After tome difficulty they succeeded in anchoring in 

 the Kangerlutsiok Bay, but on account of the state of the 

 ice they had to stand to sea again, and steamed along the 

 ice-belt lining the coast, in order to find an opening by 

 which the shore might be reached. The fauna of the sea 

 here was very poor, and they only saw in two days one 

 whale, a few seals, and a very small number of sea birds. 

 The abundant fauna of the coasts of Spitzbergen and 

 Novaya Zemlya is thus entirely wanting on the east 

 coast of Greenland. The cause of this may be the great 

 depth of the sea right up to the shore, which prevents 

 the animals from fetching their food from the bottom ; per- 

 haps also the war of extirpation which the natives seem to 

 have carried on for years has also contributed thereto. 

 The auk and the Uriagryllc are, however, said to breed in 

 large numbers on the rocks oft' Cape Farewell. The 

 Esquimaux pilot stated that he had been told by old 

 people that they could remember the AU;a impamis. 

 having been found here. The natives called it Isaro- 



