336 . GIESECK^ ON TOE MINERALOGY OJ^ DISKO. 



continent by the sea. Disko Island is situated in 69° 14' of N, 

 latitude. It is distant from the continent towards the south 12 

 German miles ; on the west and north it is surrounded by the sea 

 of Davis' Strait ; and on the east, it is separated by a narrow 

 sound; distinguished by the name of Waygat by the Dutch, and 

 by the Greenlanders Ikareseksoak. It stretches northward from 

 69° 14' to 70^^ 24' ; and its greatest breadth, which is from Fortune 

 Bay on the west, to Flakkerhuk, so named by the Dutch, on the 

 east, is 10 German miles. 



The whole of Disko Island belongs to the Floetz-trap-formation, 

 which extends over part of the continent beyond the Waygat, 

 and shows itself on the other side at 69° 20' of N. lat., continuing 

 towards and occupying the peninsula of Noousoak, which sepa- 

 rates Disko Bay from the Bay of St. James, called by the Dutch 

 Stikkendejakob's Bay. On the east end of this, the Floetz-trap 

 disappears under the stupendous glacier or ice-blink of this 

 immense arm of the sea ; and on the opposite side of it, not the 

 smallest vestage of Floetz-trap is to be discovered. On quitting the 

 shore, however, towards the north, the same formation occurs, at 

 the island of Upernavik, or Spring Island, which is -formed of 

 basalt, with immense beds of sandstone, containing veins of brown 

 and bituminous wood-coal. Two considerable islands situated 

 beyond the Frith, one named Ubekjendte (or Unknown) Island, 

 and the otlier Ilasen (or Hare) Island, belong also to the Floetz- 

 trap. 



These islands, although now detached, all appear to have origi- 

 nally belonged to the same mass, and to have been torn asunder 

 by the impetuosity of the sea, which, impelled by the winds from 

 every quarter, runs with a force almost beyond belief. During 

 such a tempest, I have myself seen the jaws of the great 

 Greenland Whale, Balcena mysticetus, thrown to a distance of 

 200 feet inland upon the beach. 



Beyond the Bay of St. James, towards the great Northern 

 Cape called Svartenhuk, the Floetz-trap is interrupted, either 

 by the Primitive rocks, or by an immense plain covered with 

 alluvial soil. Svartenhuk is composed of a granitic rock, with 

 large beds of micaceous schistus, mixed with small garnets. 

 In the adjacent bay, called Hytten, the Floetz-trap shows itself 

 in small hills, resting on a bed of sandstone, in which bitu- 

 minous wood occurs. From this point, the continent of Green- 

 land, which consists of granite, stretches away to the east of 

 north, and is covered with an incredible number of small 

 islands, called the Vrowen or Women's Islands. The base of 

 these islands is uniformly granite or gneiss ; the last sometimes, 

 though rarely, mixed with garnets. Some of the islands arc 

 covered with beds of the Floetz Formation, particularly Kakarsoak, 

 the largest of the group. 



To the north of Kakarsoak, in the colony of Upernavik, in 

 lat. 72° 32', the Floetz-trap again disappears, and granite, alter- 

 nating with gneiss, present themselves, and continue to lat. 73° 32', 

 at the islands of Udjordlersoak and I.essiursak. Near Cape 

 Nullok, in Sanderson's Hope, the Floetz-trap again appears in 



