CHAPTER IV. 



-THE GLACIERS OF GREENLAND. 



The continental proportions of Greenland, and the ex- 

 tent to which its area is covered by glacial ice, make it by 

 far the most important accessible field for glacial observa- 

 tions. The total area of Greenland can not be less than 500,- 

 000 square miles — equal in extent to the portion of the 

 United States east of the Mississippi 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 toward 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 problem 

 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 con- 

 tinuous ice-field. Rivers were flowing in channels upon the 

 surface like those cut on land in horizontal strata of shale or 

 sandstone, only that the pure deep blue of the ice-walls were, 

 by comparison, infinitely more beautiful. These rivers were 

 not, however, perfectly continuous. After flowing for a dis- 

 tance in channels on the surface, they, one and all, plunged 

 with deafening roar into some yawning crevasse, to find their 

 way to the sea through subglacial channels. Numerous 

 lakes with shores of ice were also encountered. 



" On bending down the ear to the ice," says this explorer, 

 " we could hear on every side a peculiar subterranean hum. 



