New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-02-27
GREENLAND.
A Picture Of the Country and People.

scription Of Greenland and its inhabitants,
from a new work just published by Dr.
KARL ANDREE, in Brunswick, Germany;
Greenland appears to be a mass Of large islands,
sundered in all directions BY sea Of sounds and
channels. Composed OF mountains, rocks aud
solid ice masses il is picture Of Chaos and eter-
nal Winter Il is separated from the American
Continent BY Davis Straits and B aims Bay, and
the Arctic Ocean breaks on its eastern shore.
Its extent to the northward and westward is un-
known. The interior Of this great triangular
realm is totally unexploredi the European settle
nent, are scattered along the Western Coast, and
contain from six to seven thousand inhabitants.
The land is everywhere Of mountainous charac-
ter level spots are very rare, even on the coast
ubere peaks and PERCEPTIONS cliffs rise directly
from the sea. the mountain ranges terminating
IN sb,unt oromontories. On these black walls,
covered only with ice and snow there IS no sign
of vegetable growth the meress moss or lichen is
wanting. Here living creature is rarely to be
seeo-not seal or a sea.gull-sometimes, per-
haps. a solitary crow. The mountains 90 not gen.
erallv exceed three thousand feet in hight, bat
are crowned with eternal ice The Hlortetakken
Stag Hornsl near Godhaab, on the Western
Coast attain hight of near 5000 feet, ami the
Kupnak. which is about 1000 feet in elevation,
bears immense masses Of snow and ice on It's
decivities
The interior OF Greenland is q terrible chaos
60 torn and shattered by deep assures into which
the sun never shines and over which tremendous
glaciers thrust their edges, that travelling Is utter
" impossible. All attempts to cross from the
western to the eastern coast have been frustrated
The bold adventurers who attempted the feat,
found only an alienation Of deep chasms and
high crags, rocks and ice-a more desOlate and
forbidding waste than the islands and inlets along
the sea- The glaciers of the interior shove them
selves deep into the nets and bays and have CON-
pletely filled many of them. In other places, the
ice forms lofty promontories, reaching far into the
ocean. Where the glacier ice comes IN contact
with the salt water, it forms masses of every con.
ceivable shape. AS it gradually slides down the
steep lodges and declivities, it is gnawed by the
waves below, though not diminished in bulk,
since new ice continually follows, building up an
other pile upon its ruins. When these projecting
masses can no longer bear their own weight they
separate from the original glacier and plunge in
enormous fragments into the sea, forming those
icebergs, which are so common in the Northern
Atlantic. In some places grand, immoveable piles
are formed, which remain through the summer, or
entire inlets and fords Of the sea are arched over
with gtterng domes Of ice like the great Ice
blink between latitude 81 and CO. which shines
afar off like an arch Of auroral light
The hight of the icebergs often amounts to 1000
feet Many of them are formed high in Bsiiin's
Bay, float to the south and are carried IN such
quantities upon the coast of Greenland by the
strong southwestern currents that they frequent.
y crowd together so as to form gold barrier be-
tween that coast and Iceland. Through the whole
summer they lie on the southern coast around
Cape Farewell, and on the western coast as far
as GO and sometimes &C in September and
October they disappear, but in January they re-
turn again. In Disco Bay icebergs have been
measured, which stood 300 fathoms deep in the
water, and were therefore more than 1000 ieet
in blight On the eastern coast many measure
from 100 to $50 feet above the surface OF the
water. and since only the seventh or eighth part
is visible the full hig ht cannot be less than lOUV
feet. They are frequently mile In clrcumie'
renee and contain from 900 10 1900 millions Of
cubic feet, weighing from 40 to 80 millions Of tuns
While they thus float, slowly dissolyilg into the
ocean, they often assume the most wonderful
forms; they resemble palaces, cathedrals and
old lortresses, with gateways, windows and tow
ers, all built Of spotess marble and shining in the
sun like silver. Sometimes they resemble ships
trees or beasts or parting the light with their Gu
bic splinters, cover themselves with prismatio
gores. Those who approach them are thrilled
with powerful feeling Of terror, for the ice-mas
ses frequently crash in pieces, and as sometimes
in the Alps the bell is taken from the neck of the
leader mule lest its sound should start the sleep.
ing avalanche, so in the Northern Seas the Es
quimaux suspends his oar and makes no sound as
he passes these treacherous islands Of ice.
The coast rises almost Immediately from the
sea to a hight Of from two TO three thousand feet,
and the damp sea air has an unfavorabe effect
upon it, The great southern oceanic currents
pass at some distance from the shores Of Green
land, while on the other hand the Polar currents,
which bring down the icebergs and icefeds,
wash them on both sides During the brief Sum.
mer this ice appears in crest masses in Winter,
it partially disappears In Uppernavik, - A.,
the cold sometimes reaches to 80, or even As,
below zero. Then even the rocks burst asunder;
the ice forms down the chimneys, hanging in
arch over the FIRE, with but a small aperture in
the center for the passage Of the smoke. If meat
be cooked the outside is well.done while the
center is frozen TO such hardness that sharp
knife makes no impression on it, Brandy, and
even alcohol congeals into thick, oily mass. A
smoky vapor continually ascends from the sea,
and, caught by the wind, turns to millions Of
needles or points Office. The climate Of the east
ern shore is much more severe than that Of the
western. Summer begins in June, and the heat
soon increases TO such an extent that sometimes
the thermometer stands at 60 in the shade. But