Trof. Nordenskibld — Expedition to Greenland. 413 



pointed icebergs, some of wliich stood so firmly on the ground that 

 the stream could only move them at flood-tide. Others, which did 

 not draw so much water, were carried hither and thither by the 

 currents, and it is difficult to describe in words the deep booming and 

 scraping which took place when these were driven against each 

 other or on the still mightier masses aground. A loud report some- 

 times gave notice of the splitting of an iceberg, which was usually 

 followed by a violent undulation reaching to the shore. It is not 

 surprising that the Greenlanders do not like to make long voyages 

 in such waters. Neither did we long continue our row. Just on 

 the other side of a headland formed by a high steep gull-hill, 

 bordering the mouth of Tessiursak, were the remains of an old 

 house, which formed the terminus of our journey. Here we rested 

 for the night, and returned next day by the same route by which we 

 had come. We employed our time partly in an examination from 

 the tops of the neighbouring hills of the vast iceberg-factory that 

 lay at our feet, and partly in a careful investigation of the remains 

 of the dwellings left desolate for a century, perhaps many centuries, 

 where we now rested. 



I have already given .a profile of the contour of this glacier, from 

 which it may be seen that it is impossible to draw any definite line 

 of boundary between the inland ice and the sea. The glacier is in 

 fact, as its profile indicates, to a considerable distance up, probably 

 several miles from its border, broken up into icebergs, the original situ- 

 ation of which has, by the continual advance of the ice, been entirely 

 disturbed, so that they are thrown in confusion one over the other. 

 Even at the mouth of the fjord these icebergs are as closely 

 packed as when they formed a jDart of the glacier, and most of them 

 perhaps always aground. It is not till a considerable distance 

 further on that they are separated from each other, so far at least 

 as to allow the surface of the water to be seen between them. 



Even if there had been time to take topographical measurements, 

 it would not have been possible for me to state how many hundred 

 yards the situation of the house we now visited lies from the spot 

 where the fjord and inland ice meet. What is certain is, that at pre- 

 sent the distance is not very great, and the appearance of the environs 

 must have been very different when Kaja — ■such is said in former 

 times to have been the name of the locality — was an inhabited place. 

 That it was so for a long period is shown by the magnitude of the 

 kitchenmiddens, and by the number of remains of houses and of 

 graves. Also either the level of the water in the fjord has risen or 

 the land sunk considerably since that time. It is not in fact 

 probable that the situation of a house would be chosen so close to 

 the shore that not even a canoe could find room in front of the 

 dwelling. 



As a Greenlander now seldom resides at any distance from the 

 Danish-trading stations, one finds in numberless places along the 

 coast old deserted dwelling-places. They are recognizable at a 

 distance by the lively verdure, arising from the rich vegetation, 

 which the remnants of fishing and hunting prey scattered round the 



