Aug. 1857. WAIGAT SCENEKY. 29 



thus permit the natives to devote their whole 

 time to the seal-fishery. 



The Waigat scenery is unusually grand ; the 

 strait varies from 3 to 5 leagues in width ; on 

 each side are mountains of 3000 feet in height. 

 The Disco side, upon which we landed, is com- 

 posed of trap, sandstone appearing only at the 

 beach, and occasionally rising in cliffs to about 

 100 feet. Upon the moss-clad slopes many 

 fragments of quartz and zeolite were met with. 

 The north end of Disco is almost a precipice 

 to its snow-capped summit, which is 4000 feet 

 high. 



^th. — A pleasant fair wind carries us rapidly 

 northward, passing many icebergs. Our rigging 

 is richly garnished with split codfish, which we 

 hoped would dry and keep ; but a warm day in 

 Disco Fiord, and much rain with a southerly gale 

 in the Waigat, have destroyed it for our own 

 use. It is however still valuable as food for our 

 dogs. I am very anxious to complete my stock 

 of these our native auxiliaries, as without them 

 we cannot hope to explore all the lands which it 

 is the object of our voyage to search. We could 

 only obtain ten at Godhaven, and require 

 twenty more. 



^th. — By Petersen's intimate knowledge of 

 the coast we were enabled to run close in to the ■ 



