The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-05-07
u oaEeNLANb's ICY MOUNTAINS"
The Desointe Scene Which Meets the
Eyes of tho Hardy Explorer

Greenland is region round which SO
manv romantic memories cling that the
announcement that an expedition is on
the POINT of attempting To cross 1t from
sea Ia SEA possesses more thaii the usual
interest of geographical news. Tie latest
ad,snuer is'Iierr Nansen, Norwegian,
whose companions. ii is understood, will
| l.r...,ei. ,apIandcrs skilled IN the pecu-
! litr n.ol' ct travel necessary. II 100
n,'r- pi 1Io,ry glacier are to be passed
,.i..t .rNtainy ike success.
... yrra-cr who for the first time
......f. t.lr .uures Of Greenland is little
...o.at.d The icy mountains OF
,-.!r., /, acr sang seem more or less
h.mu.l myth. for, with the exception OF
ODD. .clH..ly high hill here and there,
| t,s. -r1rr, consist for the most part OF
/ hri'H. cliffs, noisy with sea fowl or ice
worn ul,,s. through which glaciers creep
| from thr interior. while out Of the fiords
that mtcr-gct the shore line fleets OF Ice
bcr-s sail in stately procession. Snow,
M donM. there is much store of. - az
/ the d.c1vercr of Davis strait declared
/ there was. But if the landiall IS made
| IN summer. with the exception OF the
/ drifting icpberrs or an occasional icedOe,
OF some other remnant of the winter 5
coii. the visitor who surveys the country
/ from tie ships deck, or even from the
| "croy's most. sees little Of those vast
glacier fields Of which ne cannot fail to
| have heard. But if once he crosses the
few miles Of ice shayen rocks, or bowlder
etrewu valleys gay with the Arctic flow.
/ ors. or even green with the creeping
/ birch. the crowberry, and the dwarf vii.
low. the vast "sermiksoak' Of the Es-
kimo at once faces him.
This Is the edge Of the finland ice
This edge may be in the shape Of more
OF less precipltous wall, from which the
surplus Zee is being discharged into the
ford in the shape Of huge bergs. Or in
/ "a quiet. reindeer dotted valley, whore the
iiuttcr OF the ptarmigan or the bark OF
the white fox is the only sound that dis
urbs tie solitude, the inland ice may be
seen crawling To the sea. But once let
+ the explorer ascend it and the scene which
f It presents to the eye iBeyerywherc much
the same lie Is on firm glacier ice
slowly moving from the interior. bat
how thick 10 man knows Unlike the
puny glaciers Of the Alps and Himaiayas
This ice j. n0t suewn with molaine unless
where. in passing through some glen OF
the ice bare outskirts Of the coast lying
strip described, IL has dislodged
fragment Of rock or an over.
HANGING bsul, of earth The con-
clns.on is thus inevitable that IN passing
over thc country this sheet has not come
into contact with anything Terrestrial.
no sight or sound Of living thing i seen
on its surface unless it may be one Of
those microscopic plants which cause tie
"red snow or others CT similar nature
with here and there a minute speck of
"hryok0mito. white powder the
origin OF which is probably mcteoric
North and south nothing Is seen bat
glacier bee. Eastward, II the traveller Is
penetrating from Davis strait on .ailins
BAY. the view is bounded by a dim. misty
horizon of ice. and behind him thu coast
strip-the "Outskirls' OF Kinks udmg
away ius; as the land fades behind the
sailor who sails out to sea. No wonder
the ron men 81 the norIh dread 70 APP
proacl it am make it the scene Of Their
tales Of wonder.
Whether this ice cap OF Greenland cx
teud- u an uubroken sheet from coast 10
/ coast mu+l necessarily be- question adj
mittlng OF difference Ji opinion The
cha-cts ate ail ia favor ot IFS doing 80,
Tor II 30 proceeded as the Alpine and
otlcf mountain glacier, do. frol.i some
interior range. there could scarcely fail
to b. -unr m9.uiur on it, surface. On
the other nand. wherever il has been
penatla'. 81. same appearances present
them,e.r,.. ii. oniy exception being in
South Greenland. where, within a short
distance ~ ta- c1Isl few ''uunataks,
a, .ho Eskimo call them present them
se,y,, iI,c I,i,i- above thc surface OF the
vast glacier sheet These are. however
simpl, pals, u the old land surface still
une..s..i The rest OF the country
seems to have been overwhelmed by the
snow hardened into glacier ice the de-
cav dg. to the summers heat never