The Palatka Daily News

Early Settlement of Greenland.

[New York Sun.]

The old controversy as to whether or not the east coast of Greenland was settled by the Northmen, who built thriving colonies on the west coast in the early middle ages, has been decided by a Danish government expedition, sent out in the spring of 1883 to explore the little visited coast. The early Norwegian records speak of sixteen parishes and nearly 300 villages on Greenland 800 or 900 years ago, when it had its own bishop; but this entire civilization had perished when Davis penetrated along the west coast to the strait that bears his name in 1585.

The fact that an "eastern" and a "western" settlement were spoken of in the records led to the belief that both coasts had been settled in the early days, while modern explorations have made progress only along the west coast. Nordenskjold, who visited these regions in 1883, believed that he had found traces of ancient habitations on the east side similar to those found along the west coast. The Danish explorers have proved him wrong. They spent two winters on the east coast and penetrated 100 miles further north than the point (65 degrees 18 minutes) reached by Grash in 1882, mapping out the land and calling it "King Christian the Ninth's Land;" but they found no trace of previous occupation, except a beer bottle which the Esquimaux who inhabit these high latitudes had looked askance at for two years, believing it to be somehow connected with the elves of the inland glaciers which they fear as evil spirits.

The explorers were unable to account for the presence of the bottle, that had the name of a well-known Norwegian brewer blown in the glass, until they learned of Nordenskjold's previous visit to the neighborhood. The coast was quite accessible last summer north of the dreaded glacier Puissortok, and presented an unexpected view of handsome mountains and green valleys with very little ice. No doubt remains, from the report of the expedition, that by the "eastern settlement" in the old records was meant the one furthest south on the west coast, for in the lower latitudes this coast trends sharply toward the east. Important ruins have been found there.