32 MAN AND THE GLACIAL PERIOD. 



ing the results of this expedition, since they are so similar 

 to those already detailed in connection with the Muir 

 Glacier. A feature, however, of special interest, pertains 

 to the glacial lakes which are held in place by the glacial 

 ice at an elevation of thousands of feet above the sea. One 

 of considerable size is indicated upon the map just south 

 of what was called Blossom Island, which, however, is not 

 an island, but simply a nunatalc, the ice here surrounding 

 a considerable area of fertile land, which is covered with 

 dense forests and beautified by a brilliant assemblage of 

 flowering plants. In other places considerable vegetation 

 was found upon the surface of moraines, which were prob- 

 ably still in motion with the underlying ice. 



Greenland. — The continental proportions of Green- 

 land, and the extent to which its area is covered by glacial 

 ice, make it by far the most important accessible field for 

 glacial observations. The total area of Greenland can not 

 be less than five hundred thousand square miles — equal in 

 extent to the portion of the United States east of the Mis- 

 sissippi and north of the Ohio. It is now pretty evident 

 that the whole of this area, except a narrow border about 

 the southern end, is covered by one continuous sheet of 

 moving ice, pressing outward on every side towards the 

 open water of the surrounding seas. 



For a long time it was the belief of many that a large 

 region in the interior of Greenland was free from ice, and 

 was perhaps inhabited. It was in part to solve this prob- 

 lem that Baron Nordenskiold set out upon his expedition 

 of 1883. Ascending the ice-sheet from Disco Bay, in 

 latitude 69°, he proceeded eastward for eighteen days 

 across a continuous ice-field. Eivers were flowing in 

 channels upon the surface like those cut on land in hori- 

 zontal strata of shale or sandstone, only that the pure deep 

 blue of the ice-walls was, by comparison, infinitely more 

 beautiful. These rivers were not, however, perfectly con- 

 tinuous. After flowing for a distance in channels on the 



