Creator
J[eanne] C. C[arr]
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
[4]
snow shoes, rattled down the western slope until they reached the zone of iceless land on the west coast, on the 26, reaching the fjord called Ameralik. There they made a boat of their canvas tent, in which two of the party reached the Danish settlement Godthaab, arriving on Oct 3, and immediately sending a relief party in boats, for them left behind. X X X The expedition Dr N. believes has proved the whole interior of Greenland to be covered by an immense shield-shaped cap of ice and snow which in places must be 5000-6000 feet in thickness. A great point of interest was the comparatively low temperature of the interior. Dr. N though the best way of solving the problems of the great ice age was to examine the places where similar conditions now exist as the expedition had done in Greenland, which had many characteristics of Scotland and Scandinavia.
Love to all in Strentzel-Muir families, & to the Swett family - congratulate JS. for us.
J.C.C.
[1] [1889]
July 16,
Dear John -
Around the evening lamp I was skimming the London Times of June 28th reading aloud to the family - came across this - "Dr Nansen's journey across the Greenland inland ice." "At the Royal Geog Soc on Monday night, Dr. Fridtoff Nansen, the Greenland explorer, gave a description of his journey across the inland ice of Greenland from east to west. (Many Lords of high title, Sir Sam'l Baker, & others present) "Dr Nansen was rec'd with warm cheers. A great many fine colored sketches of Greenland scenes, and
[2]
the sledge upon which he made the journey were shown, with a fine map of the country. Dr Nansen remarked that since the discovery of Greenland 900 years ago its interior had remained a mystery, and successively sketched the explorations [Aefen?] 1869, when Edward Whymper & Dr Robert Brown tried it from the shores of Disco Bay, & failed. Then came the more fortunate Nordenskiold (1870) Jensen & others (78) Nordenskiold again in 1883; etc - All these [illegible] were made from the west coast; Dr Nansens plan was to start from the east coast, & work through to the west, where the Danish [illegible] settlements would afford relief after the exhausting journey - A generous Dane Mr Augustin Gamel provided the means. Norwegian seamen and Lapp servants completed the
[3]
expedition. They sailed for Iceland which they reached in June 1888; changed to a Norwegian sealing ship July 17th, leaving this in their boats after 12 days coasting reached the land at Amerilak (61 deg. 30 min. N.L) on the 29 July. Then forced their way northwards along the coast until Aug 15. when the disembarked & commenced their inland journey, intending to reach the settlement on Disco Bay. For twelve days found hard travelling pulling their sledges; they altered their course to a more westerly direction making for the settlement of Godthaab. Sept 1. found them 9000 feet above the sea level, on an extensive ice plateau, like a frozen sea, cold severe, thermometer falling below the scale nights. Sept 19, a favorable wind sprang up, when the travellers lashed their sledges together, hoisted sails and holding on to the sledges standing in their Norwegian "skis" or
01368
Location
[place unknown]
Circa Date
[1889] Jul 16
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20 x 25 cm.
Recommended Citation
Carr, Jeanne C., "Letter from J[eanne] C. C[arr] to John Muir, [1889] Jul 16." (1889). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1847.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1847
Resource Identifier
muir06_0189-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 06, Image 0189
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
Copyright Status
Copyright status unknown
Copyright Statement
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Owning Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
