262 R. BROWN, FLORULA DISCOANA. 



mimic cascades over the sea-cliffs. In some of these lakes or 

 boggy places I found Hippwns vulgaris^ which I did not observe 

 anywhere else in the district. A fruitful habitat for plants 

 was the dripping rocks, where a little stream flowed in through 

 a valley at the head of the harbour. Outside of the little 

 harbour a few Algae were found, the continual grinding of ice- 

 bergs off the shore hardly allowing of their growth. However, 

 just below the *'kirke" where we lived, the rocks yielded not a 

 few species, and the scum of pools furnished some interesting 

 freshwater species. North of Jakobshavn the coast is very 

 similar — low-lying, with glens and valleys, the outlets of former 

 glaciers, scattered with old moraines, but presenting nothing 

 particularly worthy of notice in a botanical point of view. On 

 the site of Eskimo villages (such as Akatout, in Rode Bay) a very 

 luxuriant growth of vegetation springs up ; and here I gathered 

 some plants, which will be found recorded in their proper places. 

 (5.) Illartlek Inlet. — This inlet breaks the coast in lat. 69° 

 27' N. Like all of such fjords or inlets, it is the site of an ancient 

 glacier which here reached the coast. The entrance of it is in 

 Pakitsok Bay, and is marked by an immense terminal moraine, 

 where many plants grow luxuriantly.* I have always noticed 

 that plants grow most luxuriantly near large rocks or boulders, 

 the rock attracting a greater amount of heat to the soil. This is 

 very evident on the broad American prairies, where stones are 

 rare ; and was equally apparent here, though on a lesser scale. 

 At the head of this inlet (or at least one of the heads) a muddy 

 glacier stream flows in, silting up the head of the inlet for several 

 miles. On the left hand is a bold bluff of boulder (glacier ?)-clay 

 and boulders, a remnant, as all such are, of the former upheaval of 

 the coast, though at present, in the vicinity of Disco Bay at least, 

 the coast is perceptibly sinking. This clay was very sandy, and 

 was kept together by a turf of Empetrum, Betula, and Grasses ; 

 but on the windward side, where it meets the blast from the 

 glacier, it was bare of vegetation, and the fine powdery clay 

 was blown into hillocks around a few Willow tufts. On the less 

 exposed places a few stunted plants grew, particularly Ledum 

 palusti'Sf here at least belying its trivial name, for it grows mostly 

 on dry ground. Between the glacier and this place is a flat valley, 

 after ascending the first slope, covered with a spongy turf and 

 permeated by streams, and ornamented with a little lake where the 

 wild Geese breed. On the slope, just before crossing over a little 

 ridge to the glacier, I found the rare Lichen Dactylina arctica^ 

 Nyl., in considerable profusion, but nowhere else. This valley is 

 plentifully tufted with the fragrant Hierochloe alpina, which is 

 used for stuffing the native boots. Crossing the ridge mentioned, 

 we descend a little slope and face the glacier, the overflow of that 

 great mer de ^/ace which overspreads the whole interior of Green- 

 land with an icy covering. The slope facing the glacier and the 



* In this catalogue " Illartlek " refers to this locality ; " Illartlek glacier/ 

 to the immediate vicinity of the glacier and inland ice, &c. 



