344 GIESECKE, CRYOLITE OF GREENLAND. 



(from the word orksok, blubber), a substance that has resemblance 

 to blubber. I could have remained with pleasure during the 

 whole winter on this spot, so alluring to a mineralogist ; but I 

 had to provide for twelve human beings who followed me, and who 

 looked more for Seals than for minerals. The floating ice pressed 

 upon us in all directions, and it was advisable to get rid of the 

 frith and gain the open sea, as we had to clear 250 miles in a very 

 boisterous season before we could reach our winter residence. 



XLV. — On the Cryolite ^ of Evigtok, Greenland. By 

 J. W. Tayler, Esq. (Reprinted, by Permission, from 

 the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of 

 London, vol. xii., 1856, pp. 140-144.) 



[^See above, Giesecke's paper on the Cryolite of Greenland, 

 p. 341.J 



.... Evigtok (which signifies in the Esquimaux language 

 " a place where there is plenty") is distant about 12 miles 

 from the Danish Settlement of Arksut, and forms a small bay in 

 the Fjord of Arksut. It is a semi-circular space of rather low, 

 irregular ground, surrounded by a ridge of mountains rising 

 abruptly to the height of about 2,000 feet, making the enclosed 

 space appear the half of a deep basin about two miles in diameter. 

 Evigtok is noted in Greenland for its abundance of fish in the 

 summer season ; shoals of Capelins blacken the small bays, whilst 

 thousands of Codfish swim close to the shore in pursuit of them, 

 both of which are taken by the natives in large quantities. At 

 the foot of the mountains and on their sides are to be found many 

 Grouse, Hares, and Arctic Foxes. In the winter season immense 

 flocks of Eider-ducks and other water-fowl resort to this part of the 

 fjord. Vegetation, such as it is in Greenland, also prospers 

 here ; a miniature forest of Salix arctica, about 4 feet high, covers 

 about a square mile, and Angelica, Rumex, Taraxacum, Poten- 

 tilla, and other plants are met with more abundantly than is 

 general in Greenland ; the spot appearing like a garden amidst 

 the general barrenness of a land buried deep in snow nine months 

 out of the twelve. But Evigtok is more remarkable as being the 

 only place in the world in which the mineral cryolite has hitherto 

 been found. 



* See Thomson's " Outlines of Mineralogy," vol. i., p. 251 ; and Giesecke's 

 article "Greenland," in the ''Edinburgh Encvclopsedia," 1816. [^See also 

 Giesecke, " Edinb. Phil. Joui-n.," 1821-2, p. uf, &c. ; Allan, "Transact. R. 

 Soc. Edinb,," vi., p. 351 ; a note on the trade in cryolite, in Irminger's 

 " Notice sur les Peches du Danemark," &c., 1863, p. 15 ; Ellis on Cryolite 

 and its Products, " Cheni. News," 1868, vol. xvii., p. 173 (from "Proceed. 

 " Americ. Pharmac. Assoc. ) ; and Notes by Dr. R. Brown further on. — 

 Editor.] 



