THE GLACIERS OF GREENLAND. 97 



where every line and furrow and chasm seems to indicate the 

 movement of descent and the mechanical disturbances which 

 have retarded it. 



1 have named this great glacier after Alexander von Hum- 

 boldt, and the cape which flanks it on the Greenland coast 

 after Professor Agassiz. 



The point at which this immense body of ice enters the 

 land of Washington gives even to a distant view impressive 

 indications of its plastic or semi-solid character. No one could 

 resist the impression of fluidity conveyed by its peculiar mark- 

 ings. I have named it Cape Forbes, after the eminent erystal- 

 ologist whose views it so abundantly confirms. 



As the surface of the glacier receded to the south, its face 

 seemed broken with piles of earth and rock-stained rubbish, 

 till far back in the interior it was hidden from me by the slope 

 of a hill. Still beyond this, however, the white blink or glare 

 of the sky above showed its continued extension. 



It was more difficult to trace this outline to the northward, 

 on account of the immense discharges at its base. The talus 

 of its descent from the interior, looking far off to the east, 

 ranged from seven to fifteen degrees, so broken by the crevasses, 

 however, as to give the effect of an inclined plane only in the 

 distance. A few black knobs rose from the white snow, like 

 islands from the sea. 



The general configuration of its surface showed how it 

 adapted itself to the inequalities of the basis-country beneath. 

 There was every modification of hill and valley, just as upon 

 land. Thus diversified in its aspect, it stretches to the north 

 till it bounds upon the new land of Washington, cementing 

 into one the Greenland of the Scandinavian Vikings and the 

 America of Columbus.* 



Much less is known concerning the eastern coast of Green- 

 land than about the western coast. For a long time it was 

 supposed that there might be a considerable population in 

 the lower latitudes along the eastern side. But that is now 

 proved to be a mistake. The whole coast is very inhos- 



* " Arctic Explorations," vol. ii, pp. 146-153. 



