Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-30

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that it had taken things into its
own hands and given up setting entirely We
had reached the land where day slept with its
eyes open"
Our existence became unnatural; permanent
ly flooded with light. 1t hammered incessant-
ly against ones eyes There no escaping
it. One slept fitfully, regardless of time when
ever he became exhausted, to dream of the
soothing narcotic effect of black velvet dark
ness. Hour after hour we glided over the deep
silent waters of Ikertok Fiord, toward the icy
interior of Greenland.
There is not much Stingo in the assertion
that Greenland is the second largest island on
the globe. The fact that it stretches from Cape
Farewell latitude So north into the Polar
Sea to about So north, is also practically bar
yen of emotional appeal.
It's actual area is $4,000 square miles but
10000 square miles of it lies buried under a
vast sheet of paleocrystic ice, rising at its
highest point to nearly 10000 feet. This is
referred to as the Ice Cap" and is the largest
body of ice of its kind known to exist. 1t
covers the interior in a gently undulating sheet,
rounding off as it reaches the Shoreline in a
sharp drop. What the contour of the land
beneath it resembles remains and is likely to
remain, a deep mystery. This is disappoint-
ing to all contour-lovers
If the area of the Ice Cap is deducted from
its total area, we find that all Greenland really
consists of is $4,000 square miles of coastal
fringe The place is in the middle of a glacial
period, with very little indication of a thaw
setting in.
THE interior is dead storm dashed desert of
- ice almost defying exploration. Kryokonite,
or coSmic dust lies scattered over its surface
and when the Summer sun beats down mnum-
CRADLE potholes form, ranging in diameter from
view inches to three four feet. Lakes fill the
depressionS, while miniature rivers rush down
10 Tho yJiV1 in fHn ira
Travelling is aquatic adventure. No living
thing Is seen. The coastal fringe ranges in
width from few hundred yards to hundred
miles. From all accounts it seemed more like
q fragile than fringe.
The place was discovered by a Norseman
named Gunbjorn, but he let the matter drop.
1t was not until Eric the Red across it
in 383 AID that Greenland really came into
its own His vivid imagination supplied it with
q name His seductive responsiveness populated
it with followers from Iceland. After a taste
of Iceland there was a certain appeal to the
suggestion that they could be no worse off in
Greenland. Loading families, worldly goods
and cattle into their Viking ships they sailed
around to the west coast The sight that met
their eyes is described by modern enthusiast
rs follows:
"The costal fringe of Greenland is of
the most sublime and magnificent cycloramas of
nature; it's superb mountains, terTaced cliffs,
less stretches of glacial ice, numberleSs, silver
threads of winding waters have no equal" 1t
sounds just the kind of place one would select
for the old homestead. A "terraced cliff in
your back yard, with the front porch terminal
ing in chaotic abyss" certainly adds a mel
low touch of nominees. They unloaded their
Viking ships and settled down. A mans real
estate holdings were vertical instead of hori-
Eontal All had to do to see what was
going on in the COW pasture was lie down on
private ford Some of the more patrican had
even three or four. If farmer unable to
use all his fiords he could always trade one in
for chaotic abyss" 1t dandy
There lumber in Greenland, yet ships
were a necessity to the settlers, so long as
supplies came from Europe all went well. But
for some strange reason about the year 1900 the
Old World suddenly became so interested in its
own affairs it suffered a complete lapse Of
memory with respect to the colOnists. For the
next hundred yearsL'they remained forgotten.
Then around 1855 Ff6DisIier and Davis hadiI
.79niE