420 PROF. NORDENSKIOLD, EXPEDITION TO GREENLAND. 



to Saitok, at the mouth of the Disko fjord ; and to Puilasok and 

 Sinnifik. Shortly after our arrival at the last-mentioned place 

 (Sept. 3), we received a Kayak express from G-odhavn with the 

 news that war had broken out, which induced us to hasten back 

 to the colony in order to avail ourselves of the first opportunity 

 to return to Europe. As no vessel was just then lying there, nor 

 was any expected to arrive at Godhavn for the next few days, I 

 immediately passed over to Egedesminde. Dr. Nordstrom re- 

 mained at Godhavn, awaiting Drs. Oberg and Berggren, to return 

 home with them. At Egedesminde I went on board the brig 

 Thialfe, commanded by Captain BrockdorfF. Contrary winds 

 prevented our departure till the 23rd of September, and the 

 passage was slow in consequence of storm and unfavourable winds, 

 so that it was not till the 2nd of November that I could land at 

 Elsinore. 



During the whole period of our boat-excursions in Greenland 

 we had, with the exception of one rainy night, a constantly clear 

 sky and a favourable sailing breeze, circumstances, which greatly 

 facilitated our movements^ and rendered it possible in so short a 

 time to investigate at least the principal geological features of 

 that remarkable tract, and to collect extensive series of plant-fossils 

 from above twenty separate localities, and belonging to five widely 

 separated geological horizons. 



Like previous similar collections from the Arctic regions, these 

 have been transmitted for examination to Prof Oswald Heer, of 

 Zurich, and I venture to hope that, when duly interpreted, they 

 will give us an idea of the changes of climate these regions have 

 undergone since the epoch when serious variations of climate 

 first took place upon the globe. ' I will offer a few remarks on the 

 geognosy of these interesting beds. 



The basalt or, as it is also called, trap-formation, probably ex- 

 tends completely across Greenland north of the 69th degree 

 of latitude ; at least Scoresby found, in his remarkable visit to 

 the eastern coast of Greenland, trap with the impression of Plants* 

 at many places along the extent of coast visited by him. It is 

 possible that the same formation may continue under the sea to 

 Ireland, and thence, partly in a more northerly direction by 

 Jan Mayen to Spitzbergen, partly in a southern direction from 

 Jan Mayen, by the Faroe islands, to the Hebrides and Ireland.f 

 The same eruptive formation extends also westward over a vast 

 part of Franklin's Archipelago, perhaps even to the volcanic tracts 

 at.Behring's Strait. These basalt beds probably originated from a 

 volcanic chain, active during the Tertiary Period, which perhaps 

 indicates the limits of the ancient polar continent, in the same 



* Scoresby's collections from these parts seem to have been lost. On the 

 other hand the last German Expedition to East Greenland brought back col- 

 lections of plant-impressions, which have also been placed for investigation in 

 the hands of Prof. Osvr. Heer. 



t The agreement between the basalt formations of Greenland and the 

 British Islands, both as regards the character of the rocks and the age of the 

 beds, seems to be perfect. 



