APPENDIX.

Opinions of Greenlanders, on the practicability of laying the Telegraphic Cables upon the Coast of South Greenland.

The following extracts are taken from letters written in Greenland by residents there, who have had much experience upon the coast. They prove that the floe-ice is seen off the coast of Julianshaab in January or February, and that sometimes during the summer months there is none off the coast, and that every year, from and after the month of August until January, “the coast is free from ice.” During the months that are free from ice a steamer can enter or depart with the cable, and lay it without the slightest interruption. The floe-ice runs north, along and within sight of the coast, unless driven to sea by extraordinary gales, which circumstance is always known. When it is driven to sea it clusters together in small patches of a few hundred yards in length.

The year 1860 was a remarkable era; there was a greater quantity of ice, and it remained longer upon the coast, than ever before within the memory of man or traditional accounts. Even during this year the cables could have been safely landed in Julianshaab and other fiords. Severe seasons occasionally occur in all climates, and so it has been in England the present winter (1861). The first fourteen days were colder than has been experienced since 1839, and it has been the third occurrence of severe cold within this century.

Extracts from a Letter dated Godthaab, Greenland, September 4th, 1860, from Dr. Rink, Inspector (Governor) of South Greenland.

“I need not tell you how interesting your letter from Julianshaab, of October, last year, was to me, and how much I regretted the impossibility of meeting you.

“I have thought much on your grand enterprise, and though I doubt very much that the telegraph line can be carried across Greenland from the east side, I am convinced that it can be landed in some of the inlets (or fiords) in the vicinity of Cape Farewell, without fear of interruption from ice.

“The drift ice has been very bad this summer, and has deprived me of an opportunity to meet you.”

Extracts from a Letter dated Julianshaab, November 2nd, 1860, from Mr. Möller, Governor of the Julianshaab District, a resident of Greenland since 1825.

“As a general rule the first drift ice appears in the months of January or February, but it is seldom of such extent as to reach further north than this district. When it does so, it is in the spring months.

“The Spitzbergen ice this year (1860) has beset the coast of this district from the month of January, but at some times not so much as to prevent vessels coming into this port.

“The worst months were June and July and a part of August. The reason that Col. Shaffner’s vessel was able to run into this port so successfully in the autumn of last year (October 2nd, 1859), was that the ice had long before entirely left the coast; in fact the ice had gone away in August.

“The Colonel’s ship, without the slightest hindrance, navigated the coast in the month of September, and put to sea from near this harbour in October 1859. But this year the ice has remained upon the coast longer than ever before within my memory. The coast is usually free from ice during the autumn months.”

Extracts from a Letter dated Frederickshaab, October 11th, 1860, from Mr. Twede, Governor of the Frederickshaab District, a resident of Greenland since 1850.

“The ice off this coast has continued later this year than it has ever before during my residence in Greenland. During the past ten years, and before this season, the ice on the coast of this and the Julianshaab Districts, with but one exception, has never prevented the Julianshaab vessels from sailing direct to this place, and they have generally arrived by the middle of August, and in 1855 on the 5th of July. Last year the vessels proceeded direct from sea to Julianshaab, the ice having disappeared off the coast early in the summer.

“In September 1855, I sailed along the coast of Julianshaab District beyond Cape Farewell to Itiblik, without having encountered any floe ice whatever. In September 1859, Col. Shaffner’s ship was seen steering along the coast, and subsequently anchored at Kaksimiut, in the Julianshaab District, without any interruption from ice. The coast during the autumn months is nearly always free from ice.”

Extract from a Letter dated Frederickshaab, October 11th, 1860, from the Rev. F. P. Barfoed, a resident of Greenland since 1852.

“During my residence in Greenland, I have never seen so much ice as during the present year. Dr. Rink, the Inspector (Governor) of South Greenland, and all other Danes and Greenlanders with whom I have consulted on the subject, are unanimous in declaring that never before within the memory of man has there been a year of so much ice as that of 1860.

“It is my opinion that both the east and the west coasts are every year, at times, free from ice, but possibly not on both coasts at the same time; and it is my decided opinion that a steamer will almost always find an opportunity to proceed unobstructed, direct from and to Julianshaab District, either from or to Labrador and Iceland, after, and many times during, the month of August. In the month of September 1859, I saw Col. Shaffner’s vessel coasting southward, and in a few days afterwards we heard that he had anchored at Kaksimiut in the Julianshaab District. There was but little ice last year, and in an especial manner was the Julianshaab District free from ice.”

Statement of Mr. Motzfeldt, Superintendent at Kaksimiut, one of the oldest residents in Greenland, November 1860.

“The year 1860 has been one of the worst ice years that we have ever had. Last year (October 2nd, 1859), Colonel Shaffner’s ship entered Kaksimiut without difficulty. In the months of September, October, and November, generally, this coast is free from ice, and a steam vessel can enter from the sea and depart from the coast almost any day, and not be interrupted during the autumn months. I am now over fifty years of age, and do not remember ever having seen an ice year as bad as this (1860). Even this year the coast of the Julianshaab District has been free from ice during the past and present months.”

Extract from a Letter dated Julianshaab, November 3rd, 1860, from J. Anderson, Captain in the Royal Greenland Commercial Service since 1848.

“During eight years, I was boatswain to a merchant vessel trading to this district, and during the last twelve years commander of the district schooner ‘Activ,’ of 22 tons burthen. During those periods, I have as an old sailor (for I have been forty years at sea) made many careful observations as to the nature of the ice along this coast. I have also kept a correct log (book which is now in the possession of the Board of Management of the Royal Danish Commercial Institution of Greenland), ever since the year 1849.

“Having gone through that log book, and compared it with my own views, I now express the opinion that, as a general rule, the ice mostly lies on the coast during the months of April and May, and that, on the other hand, the months which are free from ice are September, October, and November. It may be taken as a general rule, that during the months of September and October, even in what are called ‘bad ice years,’ this coast is free from ice.

“My own experience enables me to state positively—and my log book will bear me out in the statement—that steam-vessels can run straight into the settlement from the sea, with certainty, during the months before mentioned; and, as a proof of the correctness of this opinion, reference may be made to this very year, which, in regard to ice, to my own knowledge, has been the worst and the longest in duration of any ‘bad ice year’ since my arrival here in the year 1841. The large vessel, ‘Bulldog,’ came straight to this place from sea; and since the date of its arrival, up to the present time, any ship, be it what it may, might have been equally able to make this port, from the sea, and to leave it again without interruption from ice.

“Last year (1859) an American barque came straight into Kaksimint, which is a little to the north of this settlement; but that is not to be wondered at, as last year was what we call here an ‘ice-free year;’ and if the captain of that vessel had been acquainted with the coast navigation, he might have easily come in and gone out more than twenty times, and from as many places.”

Extract from a Letter dated Julianshaab, October 23rd, 1860, from Mr. Dorph, retired assistant from Nennortalik; I. Holm, superintendent at Sardlok; M. Schonheyder, superintendent at East Proven; and S. G. Lund, superintendent at South Proven.

“In compliance with the request made to us, we hereby declare that the present year has been what is called, in Greenland, a ‘bad ice year.’

“The large ice remained an unusually long time at the shore. Neither of us, nor any of the old Greenlanders with whom we have conversed on the subject, remember ever having seen, in the course of our lives, the ice remaining for so long a period along the coasts.

“The ice lay so thick for so long a time that the hunters were prevented thereby from performing their usual work, even in their Kayaks. In the present year the ice set in from the first month, and remained until September, when it disappeared. This coast is usually free from ice during the autumn months, and vessels can enter and depart without interruption from ice.

“One of the undersigned, Mr. Dorph, who has resided in this district during forty-one years, remembers well the year 1825, which was a remarkable ‘bad ice year,’ but it was not such a ‘bad’ one as the year 1860.”

Extract from a Letter dated Frederickshaab, October 12th, 1860, from T. Ordrorpe and C. Fotel, Captains of vessels from Denmark.

“On the 19th of June (1860), at about eight miles from land off Cape Farewell, we found much ice; on the 22nd, off Julianshaab, there was no ice. The ice was in patches, more north, and the greater part of our voyage on the coast, it was near to land. We were informed by the old people of Godthaab, that during the past thirty years there has not been any year with as much ice on the Greenland coast as the present, 1860.”