Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-01-09
ICE IN GREENLAND.
The Country Narrow Ribbon OF Rugged
Mountains Surrounding an Ice-Sub-
merged Interior.

Az l. ECc"Uty AV0S' On shS AhA9hO ANV
Of Greenland"
Mr.. Peary spoke of Greenland as a
land of startling contrasts; land Of
midnight sun and MONDAY night; OF
tropical skies and eternal ice. The
length from north to south, he said, is
greater than the extreme width of the
United States from the mouth of the
Rio Grsnde to the forty-ninth parallel,
and it's about the same as that OF
Mexico, or four times the combined
area of the New England and the
Middle States.
Four-fifths of this area, or about Co.,
600 square miles, equal to twelve times
the area of New York state. is sub.
merged by the inland ice, which is in
places undoubtedly mile in depth.
Greenland is but narrow ribbon OF
ragged rocky mountains. surrounding
an ice-submerged interior; titanic
mountain dam, in fact holding in check
vast sea of ice, which pours through
breaks in the dam in aresstless. groan-
ing torrent, and descends To some
ford, or flows through shallow notches
in the crest of the dam, to hang sus-
pended in frozen aerial cataracts.
In approaching a part of the coast
from which the island ice is not far
distant, or in proceeding up one of the
fiords, if the day be clear, it will be
noticed that the sky ever the mountains
has peculiar silvcry lustre; If the day
be cloudy, the mountains are seen
standing in silhouette against a pale,
supernatural light which rises over
every sullen peak, streams through
every gap in their ragged profles, and
Eliminates the clouds above them like
the CLEAN of winter sunset. This
light is the reflection from the inland
ice, and combines the brilliancy and
steadiness of the electric light with the
wierdness of the aurora and CHASTITY,
lifeless glare peculiarly its own.
Seen from the summit of command
ing mountain, the inland ice at mid
night, with the sun just below the
horizon. is smooth, clear-cut, and blue,
as mighty shield of tempered steel.
but grows indistinct and tremulous in
the binding white glare of noon.
Mr.. Peary then described his expert
ences on the inland ice Ia the summer
of 1885, when he, with young Danish
officer from one of the Greenland settle
ments, started from ford at the head
of Disco bay, and penetrated 100 miles
over the ice, attaining an elevation of
$500 feet above the sea. After lifting
and carrying his sledges, on which
were packed his provisions and Sleep
ing-gear nearly 1000 feet up the
ragged and precipitous face of the ice,
he commenced his journey the first
week in July.
After traversing some time miles of
rough ice, cut by numerous crevasses,
in crossing which he and his companion
had several narrow escapes, he found
the ice covered with a layer of snow
which increased in depth az he add
vanced. Once he nearly lost one of his
sledges by its breaking through the thin
ice of pond which he was crossing,
1t being the latter part of the arctic
day. which in this latitude is several
weeks long, the sun was constantly
above the horizon, and Mr.. Peary
marched between p. M. and 6 a. m,
when it was coolest and the glare of
the sun less powerful. Between 6 a.
m. and p. M. when it was warmest
and the binding reflection from the
snow was insupportable, he slept, some
times stretched on his sledge and some
times in pit dug in the snow.
Twice furious snow-storms buried
him aud his companion in the drift, as
they lay on the snow with the sledges
turned on their sides to shelter them
from the wind.
The last of these storms continued
FIVE days, and after a two-days' struggle
against it, stopped MIR. Peary's further
advance and kept him confined in q
snow-pit three days. He did not start
to return. however. until clear day
enabled him to get satisfactory ohser-
yations. These placed him little over
100 miles from the edge of the ice, and
mile and half above the ice level.
Mr.. Peary spoke of his surrounding at
this elevation as follows.
I'VE are more than half as high as
the tallest giants of the Sierre Nevada
and Rocky mountains and triile less
than half as high as Mont Blanc.
"The snow and ice beneath our feet
would cover Mount Marcy one-hali
mile, and Mount Washington one.
fourth mile, and Mount Mitchell. the
highest peak east of the Mississippi.
800 feet deep. 1t is evening; the
great, yellow sun is sinking to the
northern horizon; the binding midday
glare is gone, and we can dispense with
our blue goggles. Beneath our feet the
snow. fine and dry as graduated sugar
Is over six feet deep and expands from
us to the steel-blue horizon. an infinite
marble slab. From east to west and
round TO east again. from zenith tc
nadir, this horizon and the sun are alb
solutely the only things the eye can ii,
upon. In the slant rays of the sur
every snow crystal is a flashing jewel
and the sky and snow and air are one
great vibrant chord of color. There
are fairer, softer. warmer places on the
earth. but nowhere else get so close tC
the mighty heart OF nature as on this
wind-swept cloud-wrapped, sun-klssed
immutable sea.
On the return the two sledges were
dashed together n Ia catamaran. riggeC
with mast, yard, and sail from alpen
stocks and at midnight on the thirC
night, having descended to an cleva
ton of 5000 feet. where the snow VIA,
covered with light crust and the wine
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