316 SURFACE GEOLOGY. 
preserved. A change of political relations led to the destruction of the . 
commerce between Greenland and Scandinavia, and, followed by attacks 
of pirates, and the Skraellings or Esquimaux, led to the complete exter- 
mination of the Norse colony. The history of the last man has been 
preserved in Icelandic annals, whose death occurred early in the fifteenth 
century. Europe has been in doubt respecting the fate of this colony 
ever since, it having been claimed very recently that it was established 
on the eastern coast, and that the descendants of the original settlers 
might still be found there, shut off from the rest of the world by ice 
that had increased in amount since the last ship had communicated 
with them. The name Zas¢ Greenland has led to confusion, since it 
might be interpreted to signify the coast looking towards Iceland instead 
. of Baffin’s bay. The most southern of the settlements upon the south- 
west coast was east of the others, and hence the use of the term East 
Greenland. The ruins of ancient churches and monuments found on 
the south-west coast clearly confirm the truth of the Icelandic sagas. 
The island is almost continental in dimensions (perhaps consisting of 
an archipelago), being over 1,200 miles long and 400 broad, as far as 
from Boston to the mouth of the Rio Grande, or to Utah. The interior 
is covered by a field of ice, never entirely traversed by any human being. 
From three points attempts have been made to learn something of its 
nature. In 1830, Keilsen went 80 miles inland from Holsteinberg (lati- 
tude 67°), reaching the edge of the ice-sheet, which could not be climbed. 
Nordenskiold, in 1870, went in 30 miles, reaching the altitude of 2,200 
feet. He observed that the ice rose gradually towards the interior. The 
outer edge is a high wall. Once entered upon the broad surface of the 
ice, it is like travelling upon the sea, away from all sight of land. From 
North Greenland Dr. Hayes penetrated to a distance of 70 miles. It 
was a day’s journey to the wall from the sea. The second day was spent 
in climbing to the table-land; the third day allowed a progress of thirty 
miles, the angle of ascent falling from 6° to 2°. On the fourth day an 
ascent of 5,000 feet was reached, not the highest point,—but the weather 
became too inclement to permit a longer stay. The view was that of a 
frozen Sahara, immeasurable to the human eye. 
It is probable that Greenland slopes westerly in general, thus placing 
the highest ice-ridge near the eastern border; for there are very few ice- 
