Country BOOK In 1818, Captain Ross completed the circumnavigation LXXVII. of Baffin's Bay, the northern extremity of which, the bottom of Smith's Sound, he estimated to be in latitude 77° 45'. The ship's latitude at the time was 76° 46', longitude 75° 21' 45".* The middle of this oblong bay, seems every where occupied with impenetrable ice, between which and the land is the only passage for ships. It was by following this opening that the survey of the coast was made by the ships Isabella and Alexander, under the command of Captain Ross; and the positions ascertained, the appearance of the land, the situation of the islands, and the general form of the bay itself, thus established, afford a complete verification of the lately disputed discoveries of Baffin.t Still many openings on its shores remain to be explored, particularly on that of the western side. In prosecution of this object, and subordinate to the great desideratum of a north-west passage, Captain Parry sailed into Lancaster Sound, latitude 73° 50', in (July 30,) 1819; and by fol. lowing its course almost directly to the westward, was enabled to proceed along a channel, or archipelago, which is entered by Barrow's Strait, as far as Melville Island, in latitude 74° 30' N. longitude 114°. W. This channel presented several extensive openings to the north and south; to the north, several passages between the different islands of this new archipelago, which has been named the North Georgian, in honour of his present Majesty, George the IV. of Great Britain: to the south, Navy board inlet, Admiralty inlet, and Prince Regent's inlet. The latter is two degrees of longitude in breadth at the narrowest, and gradually widening southwards and westwards, has been supposed to communicate with Repulse Bay, and thereby to conjoin Hudson's Bay with Lancaster Sound, and to insulate the whole western coast of Baffin's Bay. It is also suspected, as we have just said, that both communicate with the sea of Hearne, and with that ocean which washes the shores to the east of the entrance of Copper Mine River, Vol. I. p. 209, 210. + Pinkerton's Geogr. 8vo. p. 534-651, ascertained by Franklin in the same summer 1819. Cap- BOOK tain Parry's second voyage in 1822, 1823, being directed LXXVII. to Repulse Bay and Fox's inlet, where the ice seems almost perpetual, has been completely frustrated; but it is at present in the contemplation of the British Government to despatch the same navigator to explore Prince Regent's inlet from Barrow's Strait southwards. (a) A passage to the Arctic Sea of Franklin may thus be still within the reach of discovery. The country to the north of Barrow's Straits, and continuous with Greenland, Parry has named North Devon. The islands of the New Archipelago, or Georgian Islands, as they open successively to the west, are Cornwallis, Griffith, Somerville, Browne, Lowther, Garrat, Baker, Davy, Young, Bathurst, Byam Martin, Sabine, Melville.* Cornwallis, Bathurst, and Melville islands are the largest, the latter extending from the 106° to the 114 degree of longitude from Greenwich, and from 74° 25', to 75° 50′ of northern latitude. It is about 240 miles long, and 100 miles in breadth. Dreary masses of sandstone stratified horizontally, and exhibiting marks of rapid and recent decomposition in the perpendicular fissures by which they are intersected, naked of every covering except snow and a few lichens, form the rugged coast which presents itself to the navigator of the Georgian Archipelago. In the ravines formed between these masses by the annual thaw, traces of a vegetation, more or less vigorous according to the soil, appear during the brief summer which allures to these regions, the rein-deer, ducks, geese, swans, ptarmigans, waterfowl, hares, and musk oxen, which the extreme rigour of the polar winter had driven to seek food and shelter in the woods of North Canada. A tribe of Esquimauxt seems likewise to resort hither in summer, and the relics of musk oxen and other indigenous animals strewed around their deserted huts, show (a) [Captain Parry returned in October, 1825, from his third northern voyage, without having made any important discovery. He passed the preceding winter in Port Bowen in Prince Regent's Inlet, in Lon. 98. W. Lat. 73. N.]—AM. ED. * See Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage, in the years 1819, 1820, by Captain E. W. Parry, 4to. chart. p. 29. + Ibid, p. 202, BOOK that they do not subsist by fishing alone, but probably LXXVII. repair to these islands with the prospect of hunting during Greenland. the summer season, when game is abundant even in the solitary insulated valleys of Melville Island. It is improbable, however, that with all their ingenuity and hardiness, they have ever been able to withstand the extreme severity of its winter. On the 15th of February, 1820, in Winter Harbour of Melville Island, the thermometer stood for some time at minus 55° of Fahrenheit, the greatest natural cold hitherto observed; and the mean temperature of that entire month was 32° below Zero, and of the whole year only 1°.33 above it. At Melville Island no tree or shrub refreshes the eye, and though the soil seems rich in the valleys, grass, moss, a few lichens, sallads, and saxifrages, constitute almost the whole of its botany. Clay, slate, and slaty sandstone are its aggregate minerals. The general phenomena of its winter differ nothing from the usual meteorology of the Arctic circle. From its vicinity to the magnetic meridian, the compass becomes here almost useless, remaining in that position in which it is placed by the hand. Were this pleasing confirmation of our theory of the obscure laws which govern the magnet the only fruit of the English expedition, it had not been undertaken in vain; but it has, besides, expanded the bounds of geographical knowledge, added greatly to the resources of the whale fishery ; and, above all, it has thrown a new splendour over the nautical glories of Britain, and enhanced the dignity and value of human nature. It has proved that man, enlightened by the arts, is more than a match for the obstacles of nature in her wildest ferocity. Whether the two countries be united or not, the description of Greenland‡ neither can, nor ought at present to be separated from that of America. In Danish and Icelandic it is written Groënland, from groën, green, and land, land. It is improper to preserve the orthography, Groënland, since it has become the source of a false etymology. Gröin, in the ancient Scandina LXXVII. land. establish We have already shown, in the History of Geography, BOOK that the existence of the vast coast commonly traced opposite to Iceland, under the name of Old Greenland, rests Remarks on no better authority than the hypothesis of Torfæus, an concerning Icelandic antiquary. This coast has, most likely, been Old Greenalways buried in the same ice which still prevents all access to it. The colonies of the ancient Norwegians of Iceland were all situated to the west of Cape Farewell, which is the mount Huitserk of the predecessors of Christopher Columbus. Ancient Greenland corresponds with the part at present known and occupied by the Danes, and a tribe of Esquimaux. The Danish establishments consist of about twenty factories, scattered along the coasts, and divided into two inspectorships. The most Modern advanced post towards the pole is Upernavick, in 72° 30′ ments. latitude; and next to this are Umanak, Godhavn, on the island of Disco, Jacobshavn, Holsteinborg, Sukkertoppen, Gothaab, the principal and most ancient of these colonies, situated in 64° 10' with an excellent harbour; and lastly, Friderikshaab, and Julianshaab. The Moravian brethren have three settlements here, one of which, called Lichtenau, is situated quite close to Cape Farewell. The population which, in 1789, had been found to be five thousand one hundred and twenty-two persons, amounted in 1802, to five thousand six hundred and twenty-one; but this enumeration, made after an epidemic, was in other respects also incomplete.t Vaccination, which has been recently introduced, will henceforth secure this people from the ravages of the small-pox. It is only the coast, for an extent of three hundred leagues, that is inhabited; neither the Danes nor the Greenlanders having yet passed the chain of mountains which cut off their access to the vian, corresponds with crescens germinans, and not with concreta. Thus, Gröinland, if such a word existed, would signify terra germinans, and not terra concreta. *Huit, white; serk, shirt. + Report upon the present condition of Greenland, in the Danish Ministerial Gazette, 1803, Numbers 15 and 16. LXXVII. BOOK interior. There are some wandering Greenlanders, however, who occasionally establish themselves at a considerable distance to the north of Upernavick, and who may be connected with the Arctic Highlanders, or northern Esquimaux, seen by Ross. The soil and country. This country, in reality, is nothing more than a mass of rocks, intermingled with immense blocks of ice, thus Icy peak. forming at once the image of chaos and of winter. Icy Peak, an enormous mass of ice, rises near the mouth of a river, and diffuses such a brilliancy through the air, that it is distinctly perceived at the distance of more than ten leagues. Icicles, and an immense vault, give this edifice of crystal a most magic appearance. An uninterrupted chain of mountains traverses the part of Greenland with which we are acquainted. There are innumerable gulfs, but none of them advances towards the castern coast. The three points called Stag's Horn, is descried at sea at the distance of five-and-twenty leagues. The rocks are rent into fissures, which, in general, are perpendicular, and are rarely more than half a yard in breadth, and contain a great quantity of spar, quartz, talc, and garnets. The rocks are commonly composed of granite, clay slate, and minerals. potstone, arranged in vertical beds. The Greenland Museum at Copenhagen has received from this country a very rich mineral of copper ore, schistus of the nature of mica, a coarse marble, and serpentine, together with asbestos, amianthus, crystals, and black schorl.* Greenland likewise furnishes us with a new and curious mineral, the fluate of alumina. A vast mine of sea-coal has been discovered in the island of Disco. Three hot springs are the only volcanic indications that have hitherto been observed. During the short season of summer, the air, which is very pure on the mainland, is obscured in the islands by fogs. The flitting glimmer of the aurora borealis, in some degree softens the gloomy horror of the polar night. What has Rocks and Climate. David Crantz's History of Greenland. Paul Egede's New Account of Greenland; Copenhagen, 1790. |