ON THE PLANT-BEDS OF NORTH GREENLAND. 3 



four years. He says that the glaciers which can be seen from his honse, 

 both on the Noursoak peninsula and upon Disco Island, are steadily increas- 

 ing ; so much so that their progress can bo noted every year. This state- 

 ment coincides with the observation of >Sir C. Gicscckc nearly sixty years ago. 

 The latter says*, speaking of the route to Umenak, "formerly they drove 

 generally over Gamle Ritcubenkt, but for several years the road has become 

 impassable in consequence of the 'iceblink' by which the whole continent 

 there is covered. The same will take place with the new road at present in 

 use." The glaciers to the south were, however, as far as I observed them, 

 decidedly shrinking. 



At Sakkak we were joined by a native guide for Atanekerdluk, named 

 Gudemann, and also by two others who volunteered their services. We con- 

 tinued our journey after a brief halt, and arrived at our destination shortly 

 after 1 a.m. on August the 22nd. 



The name Atanekerdluk is applied by the natives to a basaltic peninsula, 

 about half a mile in length, connected with the mainland by a sandy neck, 

 which is apparently covered by the sea at spring-tides. A bay with a sandy 

 beach stretches about two miles to the south, and at its further extremity 

 there is another promontory, of columnar basalt, named Imnarsoit. Between 

 these two promontories, and indeed along the whole of the shore from the 

 above-mentioned valley at Sakkak to the most northern point of the Noursoak 

 peninsula, mountains rise from the water's edge and attain in some places a 

 height of 5000 to 6000 feet. Behind the peninsula of Atanekerdluk they 

 do not, however, attain a height greater than 3600 or 3800 feet. They are 

 cut up by numerous small valleys and ravines. 



The position of Atanekerdluk is indicated at a great distance by means of 

 three mountain-peaks of symmetrical form. The fossil bed is one-third way 

 up the most northern of these, and between it and the central one. Under 

 the guidance of Gudemann we started for it at midday on the 22nd. The 

 sides of the hill on which it is situate (an outlying buttress of the -mountain 

 already mentioned) were of considerable steepness, and channelled in many 

 places by small streams. It was mainly composed of sand and of shales, 

 and was strewn with disintegrated fragments of hardened clays, sandstones, 

 and basalt. The most prominent features were the dykes of trap which 

 appeared in numerous places J, sometimes as regular in form as built walls, 

 and in others picturesque as Rhine castles. Five, if not six, of these dykea 

 appeared at different places in the section of the coast between the headlands 

 of Atanekerdluk and Imnarsoit. 



It has been already mentioned that this locality had been freqiiently 

 visited § before 1867 for the sake of its fossil deposit. This was evident by 

 numerous fragments that we found in the conrse of our ascent, which had 

 been dropped by others in descending, and it seemed at first as if the deposit 

 was very extensive. \Ve found it in fact to be confined M'ithin narrow 

 limits. It did not appear to extend a greater length than 400 feet, with a 

 maximum depth of 150 feet. In most places the portion exposed was 

 nothing more than a seam a few feet in depth. It was on a shelf of the hiU. 

 at tlie height of 1175 feet H ; the southern end was exposed on the north side 



* Giesecke's MS. Journal, year 1811. 



t The Danish name for the settlement of Sakkak. 



I These, as -svell as the other points of Atanekerdluk, were illustrated by a reference to 

 a photograph of a dra-sving made from my sketch taken on tlie spot. 



§ By Daries, or by natives collecting for Danes. 



II The mean of eight observations by aneroid. -Tapt. Inglefield gives the height 1084 

 feet. 



b2 



