THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
%
GREENLAND:
BEING
EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL
KEPT IN THAT COUNTRY
In the Years 1770 to 1778.
By HANS EGEDE SAABYE,
Formerly ordained Minister in the Districts of Claushavn and Christianshaab
now Minister of Udbye, in the Bishopric of Fuhnen ; and
GRANDSON OF THE CELEBRATED HANS EGEDE.
(JBofo first juHteTjeD.)
TO WHICH 1$ PREFIXED,
AN INTRODUCTION;
CONTAINING SOME
ACCOUNTS OF THE MANNERS OF THE GREENLANDERS,
AND OF THE
iWtsston in <reenlantr;
WITH VARIOUS INTERESTING INFORMATION RESPECTING
THE GEOGRAPHY, SfC. OF THAT COUNTRY;
And illustrated by a
CHART OF GREENLAND,
By G. FRIES.
SECOND EDITION.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.
Honfton :
PRINTED FOR BOOSEY AND SONS,
4, Broad Street, Royal Exchange.
1818.
J Junes Compton, Printer, Middle Street,
Cloth Fair, London.
&
HO
S H a '
AT a time when the British Government
ever laudably attentive to the interests of Science,
have been induced, by the remarkable disappear-
ance of the ice in the high northern latitudes, tc
send out two Expeditions towards the North Pole
the attention of the Public is naturally turned to
the countries likely to be visited on this occasion :
Greenland, in particular, excites peculiar interest,
from the expectation of re-discovering the Bast
Coast of that country, which has been inacces
sible for four centuries.
The Work, ofivhich the following is a trans-
lation, has been received with such remarkable
favor in Denmark and Germany, that there can
be no doubt of its being peculiarly acceptable,
under the present circumstances, to the British
Reader. Were not the name itself of the venera-
ble Author a sufficient pledge of the authenticity
of his statements, it may be safely affirmed, that
his Journal bears, in every page, the stamp of
e^w/so**
IV
truth The circumstances which have led to the
publication, are singularly honorable to him.
The Bishop of Fuhnen, Dr. Plum, being
on a visitation of his diocese, in a parish of
which our Author is minister, ivas naturally led
to converse with him on the subject of his resi-
dence in Greenland. This induced him to take
from his desk his Journal kept in that country,
which his modesty had suffered to lie neglected
for so many years. The Bishop was so struck
with the unaffected simplicity of the narrative,
and the interesting accounts which it contains of
the manners of the inhabitants, that he pressed
the venerable Author to have it published. The
Bishop has prefixed to the Danish original, a
letter to the Privy Counsellor, Von Bulow, who
enjoys the highest esteem in Denmark, on ac-
count of his liberal patronage of the Arts and
Sciences ; and tvho has, on this occasion, done a
new service to Literature, by defraying all the
expenses of the publication of the original.
Though many persons have, doubtless, a gene-
ral acquaintance with the c/taracter and mode of
living of the Greenlanders, yet such as have
not, would not receive from this Work all the
pleasure it is capable of affording. The Ger-
man Editor, 3//*. Fries, has therefore prefixed
avaluable Introduction, in which he not only
gives a general vieio of the Country and its In-
habitants, but adds from the latest authorities, and
from the accounts which have been communicated
to him by persons who have lately visited Green-
land, various interesting particulars respecting
the Geography, tyc, which ivould be in vain
sought for elsewhere.
The very neat Map with which this Edition
is enriched, will be highly acceptable ; and our
Readers will not fail to remark the Inlet dis-
covered by Capt, Volquard Boon, on the East
Coast, of which an account is given in the
first note to the first Chapter of the Journal.
Tlie Translator has only to add the wish, that
the Work may experience, in an English dress,
the approbation which has been universally be-
stowed upon it on the Continent.
H. E. Lloyd.
VI
N. J3. The miles mentioned in the follow-
ing pages are German miles, equal to about
four and a half English miles. The ells are
Danish ells, of two feet English, nearly.
Contents*
Page.
Introduction. i 97
Chap. I.
The Isefjord, in Disco Bay 9S
Chap. II.
The Mission at Claushavn is extended 107
Chap. III.
It is still possible to come to the East Side of Greenland . Ill
Chap. IV.
The Polygamist 122
Chap. V.
Greenland Courtship 127
Chap. VI.
The Baptism of a Catechumen 139
Chap. VII.
Some Journics 140
Chap. VIII.
Some Particulars of our Trade with the Greenlanders ... 160
Chap. IX.
The Wedding 1 6s
Chap. X.
Sequel to the preceeding Chapter. 177
Chap. XI.
The Child Saved 181
Chap. XII.
Witchcraft 185
Chap. XIII.
The Whale found 190
CONTENTS.
Chap. XIV.
Some characteristic Features 195
Chap. XV.
The severe Winter 206
Chap. XVI.
The Mode of Instruction 209
Chap. XVII.
Some Cures 218
Chap. XV11I.
The Avenger of his Father, or the Triumph of Religion . . 225
Chap. XIX.
The Heathens kill Witches 238
Chap. XX.
Religion and Superstition of the Greenlanders 243
Chap. XXI.
The Domestic Life of the Greenlanders. 249
Chap. XXII.
The Education of the Greenlanders 259
Chap. XXIII.
Miscellaneous Information .......... ( *. 26*4
INTRODUCTION,
J. HE Greenlanders are, in general, of a mid-
dle size, but not of so small a stature as is ge-
nerally imagined, 1 fleshy and well formed, of
a rather dark colour, have almost all black
hair, and broad flat faces. In respect to bodily
strength, they are inferior to the Europeans in
violent exertion and hard labour, but they
can, by practice, become accustomed to carry
weights on their heads, which an European
would find much difficulty in doing : a Green-
lander carries, for instance, his Kajak, and a
Greenland woman a reindeer, a long way on
the head 2 without difficulty. What they want
in bodily strength they gain in dexterity : for
(1) Only in the roost northern part of Greenland the inha-
bitants may be all very short ; in the other parts they are of
a common middle size : there are also some tall people among
them, who are more frequently found the farther We proceed
to the south, which indicates a mixture with the remains of
the extirpated Norwegians and Icelanders.
(2) The Greenlander carries, besides, his hunting utensil." in
his hand, and his gun upon his shoulder.
B
2
instance, they climb up rocks with uncommon
agility, and jump with great facility, when
the ice breaks under them, from one piece to
another, and their dogs fall into the water.
The men have, for the most part, no beard,
either because Nature refuses it, or because they
pluck it out at its first appearance.
In winter the Greenlanders live in houses,
and in summer in tents. The houses are from
eight to ten ells (in the clear) broad or deep,
about fifty ells long (according to the number
of families who inhabit them), and only high
enough for a person to stand upright : they are
generally on elevated places, that the snow-
. water may run off the better, but not far from
the shore, as the Greenlander must live by the
sea. The wall is several ells thick, and consists
of great stones, between which earth and moss
are laid. On the wall rests, in the length, a
beam, which is supported by posts ; if it is not
long enough, it is made of several pieces tied
together with thongs. Upon this beam cross
rafters are laid, between them small wood, and
over that heath ; upon this is laid a bed of
turf, which is strewed over with fine earth ; the
whole is covered with old boat or tent skins :
on the inside, the walls are lined with skins, to
s
keep out the wet. From about the middle of
the house to the wall there is fixed, lengthwise,
a bench made of boards ; it is about half an
ell from the ground, covered with skins 3 , and
divided by means of the posts which support
the roof, and by skins which are extended to
the wall. Every family, of which there gene-
rally live two or three, and sometimes from
four to ten, in such a house, occupies one of
these divisions. This bench serves the inha-
bitants of the house by day, for a table and
seats (the men generally sit with their legs
hanging down and the women cross-legged
on it), and by night for a bedstead ; they
sleep* upon them covered with quilts made of
skins, and with their feet turned towards the
wall ; but it is the custom, at least in Disco
Bay, and in general in the north of Green-
land, for married people, particularly if they
are young, to have their sleeping place under
the bench 5 . On the other side of the house,
(3) Under the skins there is usually a thin layer of grasj
or moss.
(4) Their clothes rolled together serve them for pillows.
Sometimes, but seldom, they have a pillow of skins, stuffed
with grass or moss. y^
(5) That this custom, which the author mentions in
Chap. XX, prevails in North Greenland, is beyond all doubt.
4
where the entrance is, there are some square
windows, made of entrails neatly sewed toge-
ther, about an ell each way, and so close, that
neither snow nor rain can penetrate, yet the
light shines through pretty well. Under the
windows there is, on the inside, a narrow
bench, upon which strangers sit and sleep ;
and at the ends of the house is a broader
bench, extending from the sleeping place to
the narrow bench abovementioned. At every
post is a fire-place, consisting of a wooden
block covered with flat stones ; on it stands a
low Stool with three feet, and upon that a lamp,
nearly in the shape of a half moon, cut out of
talc, but under this, an oval wooden vessel to
catch the train oil which runs over. In this
lamp, which is filled with seal's fat or fresh
train oil 6 , some moss is laid on the straight
side, which burns so clear that the house is
In the south of Greenland it is perhaps otherwise ; I have not
been ahle to learu any thing certain upon the subject, but I
Have heard from many persons who have long resided in
North Greenland, the conjecture that this custom prevails over
the whole country.
(G) The train oil which the Greenlanders burn in their
lamps ib not boiled ; but the blubber, in the warmth, dissolves
of itself into train oil: hence it does not give such a smell as
our train or coarser sorts of oil.
5
sufficiently lighted by it, and even warmed.
Over this lamp there hangs a kettle, also of
talc, in which the food is boiled ; this kettle
is of an oval form, flat and narrow at the bot-
tom, and broader at top, and hangs to the
beam by four strings. Over the kettle is
a wooden horse, to dry clothes and boots.
As there are always several fire-places in each
house (but without the smallest danger of fire),
upon which one or more lamps burn day and
night, these houses are kept so extremely warm,
that the Greenlanders at home go almost
naked 7 , and often take rpfug-e unHer the sleep-
ing place, because the heat is too great for
them. These houses have no chimnies, which,
as no smoke is perceived in them, would be
useless ; in general they have no doors ; the
place of both is, in some measure, supplied by
the entrance in the middle of the house. This
entrance, which is commonly towards the sea
side, is a covered passage of stones and earth,
built on the long side of the house, about six
or eight ells in length, and at the same time
so low, that (especially before and behind,
where you descend into it) you must go more
(7) They have only short brcecbe* "n.
6
upon the hands and feet, than stooping". This
long- passage keeps out the cold so well, that
the heat is almost intolerable to an European.
The dense air goes out, indeed, through this
opening- 5 but an European can scarcely endure
the smell of the quantity of often half putrid
meat which is boiled over these lamps, also of
other uncleanliness, particularly of the urine-
vessels, which generally stand near the en-
trance, and in which skins are softened for
tanning-. The Danes often have doors at the
end, and also a fire-place near the passage,
where they dress their food in copper or brass
kettles over a coal fire ; but over the lamps
they always use kettles of talc.
Near their habitation the Greenlanders have
little store-houses like ovens, built of stone, in
which they keep meat, blubber, dried fish, and
the like. What they catch in winter they
preserve under the snow. Near the dwellings
are their boats turned upside down, and placed
on posts, and underneath they hang their
hunting- utensils and skins. In September the
Greenlanders build their houses, or repair them,
go into them about Michaelmas ; and in March,
April, or May, sooner or later, according as
the snow melts and threatens to penetrate their
7
roofs, they joyfully leave them, and then live
in tents. Every where on the coast we meet
with houses, and if we might estimate the num-
ber of inhabitants by that of the houses, in
which very often about fifty persons live,
Greenland must be a very populous country.
But the Greenlanders love a roving life, and
generally wander about the country all the
summer. If a company is overtaken by win-
ter, or where they think fit to pass that season,
they build houses, if they do not find any ;
and a house which has been inhabited one
winter, may stand empty many years, till ano-
ther party thinks fit to take up its residence
in it.
The tents are of two kinds ; namely, fixed,
that is, such as form a fixed summer residence,
and such as the Greenlanders set up on their
journies, and which often stand only from the
evening to the morning, or, at least, but a
short time ; they are, therefore, travelling
tents 8 . In the first, the interior, which is nearly
oval, is surrounded with a wall of stones and
earth, of half the height of a man. In front,
(8) The following description of a tent, which, in many
respects, is very different from that given by Cranz and others
sifter him, is drawn up from a model made in Greenland.
8
where the entrance is, two long" posts are fixed
in the ground, a little above the height of a
man, so that they lean a little towards the
inside of the tent : these posts are joined to-
g-ether by a cross beam, and form the door-
way. Upon this crossbeam, and on the wall,
is placed, first, the main pole of the tent, which
is a little thicker than the other tent poles, and,
if the owner of the tent is opulent, adorned at
the top with a ball, painted red : the upper
end of this pole rises a little above the tent.
Besides this, there are at least eight or ten
poles, which are laid in a diverging" direction
upon the wall, and bound fast to the cross
beam. The two outermost poles are laid in
the continued direction of the cross beam, and,
as they would not have a firm resting place on
the cross beam, they are put through a strap
nailed upon it. Before the door-way there
hangs a kind of curtain of thin entrails, bor-
dered with red or blue cloth and white ribands ;
it keeps out the cold air, but admits sufficient
light. Before the entrance, two lower posts
are fixed in the ground, which are also united
by a cross beam. Two pretty heavy poles lie
with one end on this cross beam ; the other end
of them is joined by a leather strap as long- as
9
the door-way is broad, which strap lies behind
the door-way, upon the tent poles : these two
poles serve to hang- meat, boots, &c. upon.
On the tent poles, which inclose a space
nearly in the shape of half an obtuse cone,
they lay a cover of seal skins, sewed tog-ether
with the hair inside, and over this a second
cover of the same kind. The first, which the
rich often have double, and in this case, the
inner one sometimes of reindeer skins, covers
only the inner part of the tent, but the latter
extends a good way over, and forms, as it
were, the external house, where provisions, and
the vessels which smell offensively are kept.
If it rains, the hairy side of the external cover
is turned out, that the rain may run off the
better ; but, if the sun shines, the fleshy side is
turned outwards, that the heat of the sun may
not loosen the hair. The lower edge of the
cover is lined with moss, and kept down with
large stones, that the wind may not lift up
the tent. In windy weather a piece of seal
skin is fastened, on the windward side, to the
frame-work standing before the entrance. The
sleeping-bench is like that used in bouses ;
the foundation consists of blocks, every two of
which are joined by a thick board nailed over
c
10
them. Upon this foundation lie boards, and
upon them a carpet of seal skins : this bench
reaches to the back wall of the tent, towards
which the inhabitants turn their feet when they
sleep. Before the bench stand the lamps, over
which they seldom cook ; this is generally
done, in summer, in the open air, with wood,
and in copper or brass kettles.
Every family has generally its own tent,
yet two families often live together, and the
owners sometimes take in some of their poor
relations, so that not unfrequently twenty
people live in such a tent. In the corners of
the tent, the mistress of the house, who shews
all her ornaments only in summer, keeps her
furniture, and hangs before it a curtain of white
leather, stitched with all kinds of figures, and
fastens to it her looking-glass, ribands, and
pincushions. Every thing is much cleaner in
the tents than in the houses ; and, conse-
quently, the abode in them is much more
tolerable for an European. The travelling
tents differ from the fixed tents in having no
wall, but the lower ends of the poles rest on
the ground.
The dresses of the Greenlanders are made
of the skins of reindeer, seals, and birds. The
11
coat or cloak, generally of seal skin, is not
open in front, but sewed on all sides down to
the knee (for which reason they put it over
their heads after they have put their arms
through it), and provided with a hood which
they draw over their heads in cold or wet wea-
ther. The breeches are made of seal skin, or
of a thin-haired reindeer skin, and are short at
the top and bottom ; the stockings are of the
smooth skin of a young* seal j the shoes, of
smooth black tanned seal skin leather, are tied
at the top with a strap drawn through the soles,
have no heels, and the soles project nearly two
fingers' breadth before and behind ; the boots,
which have the seam before, are made in the
same manner : dry grass is put in the shoes and
boots to keep the feet dry and warm. The
skins of birds serve the Greenlander for shirts ;
they wear the feathers inwards ; they also wear
the reindeer's skin with the hair inside, and
sometimes over this a cloak of thin-haired
reindeer skins : these skins are now very rare.
The cloaks and breeches are generally rough :
it is only in summer, and when he means to be
fine, that the Greenlander has on a smooth
cloak and breeches, the seams of which are
trimmed with several narrow and broad strips
12
of red and white dog's leather. The men are
often seen in the dress of Danish sailors ; the
women, on the contrary, keep to their national
dress, except those who are married to Danes.
The men wear their cloaks shorter in summer
and longer in winter ; they reach about half
way down the thigh, and hang loose. The
breeches reach down to the knee, but longer in
winter, when they are laced over the boots.
The stockings, which reach to the breeches,
are trimmed at the top with fur. When the
men are at sea, they put on a water-proof coat,
of smooth black seal skin leather, and under
this cloak, and over the clothes, sometimes a
frock made of entrails, the better to keep them
warm and dry. The dress of the women differs
but little from that of the men, only that the
cloak has a longer hood, and in summer shorter
sleeves, is not cut short off, but has a flap be-
hind and before hanging down from the hips,
and fits rather closer ; the breeches are a little
shorter, and the stockings, on the contrary,
longer, and, on the whole, they are more orna-
mented : thus, the sleeves are not only trimmed
round the edges, but have many stripes length-
wise , the edge of the cloak is often trimmed
with seven narrow and broad stripes of co-
13
loured leather, of rough seal skin, and at the
bottom of red or blue cloth, besides a garland
(for so 1 must express it) of coloured glass
beads. They like to have the shoes and boots
of white, yellow, or red leather, the seams
neatly sewed, and often set with glass beads.
Mothers and nurses wear a cloak which is so
large that they can wrap up the child in it
(which never has a cradle or swaddling clothes,
and is generally quite naked) : that it may not
fall through, they bind the cloak fast round
the body with a girdle, which is provided in
front with a buckle or buttons.
The men wear their hair short, hanging
down on all sides, and cut off before ; the
women, on the contrary, do not cut it (except
in the deepest mourning, and when they are
resolved not to marry), but bind it together
over the crown of the head, in a great tuft,
over which there is a smaller one , for this they
like to use a handsome riband, which is often
ornamented with glass beads. The rich some-
times tie a cotton or silk handkerchief round
the forehead, but in such a manner that the
tuft of hair, as the greater ornament, is not
covered. In ancient times, the women, to be
quite handsome, were tattooed : the mother
14
performed this operation on her daughter, al-
ready in her childhood, for fear she should not
get a husband ; she stitched the skin of the
face, hands, and feet, with a thread made black
with soot, so that when the thread was drawn
through, the soot remained behind in the skin.
Traces of this almost obsolete custom are now
but seldom found, and that in old women.
The men sometimes let their beard grow,
which, as we have said, is very thin ; some-
times they pluck it out with a knife.
Reindeer flesh is the favourite food of the
Greenlanders, but they do not often get it ;
because, since they have obtained fire-arms, the
reindeer are become more scarce. Their best
food is, therefore, the flesh of sea animals, fish
and fowl, particularly that of seals : they do
not care much about land birds and hares.
They eat some kinds of berries, roots, and
herbs, as also sweet sea-weed, but the first more
for refreshment than nourishment, and the
latter (except one kind, which is taken as a
refreshment) only if they are not provided with
other food. A kind of smelt, dried in the open
air, serves the Greenlanders for bread and ve-
getables: they catch this fish in May and
June, when they are so plentiful that they
15
catch whole boats full in a few hours, and
preserve them in leather bags for winter pro-
vision. In the summer they preserve the heads
and leg's of the seals under the grass, and whole
seals under the snow in winter : the flesh thus
frozen and half corrupted they call Mikkiak,
and eat it with great appetite. They boil the
rest of the seal's flesh, as well as the flesh of the
white fish 9 and other sea animals, also sea
birds and small fish ; but they cut the larger
fish, as hollibut, cod, &c., in narrow strips,
which are dried in the sun and eaten raw.
They eat the entrails of smaller animals without
cleaning them, any farther than by squeezing
them with their fingers. What is found in the
stomach of the reindeer, as well as in the en-
trails of the snow- fowl, mixed with fresh train
oil and berries, they think a great delicacy.
Bears' flesh, and the tail and skin of whales,
are also among their favourite dishes : it is
only in case of need that they eat the rest of
the whale. Fresh, rotten, and half-hatched
eggs, bilberries, and Angelica, they preserve
for winter refreshment in a sack of seal's lea-
ther, filled with train oil. It appears, there-
(9) A smaller kind of whale.
16
fore, that train oil serves them to preserve their
food, but they do not take it in any other
manner ; neither do they take blubber, unless
it be a little bit to the dry smelt. Fresh meat
also is not eaten raw, except they are out in
the chase, or are in want of vessels or time to
dress it. Their beverage is water, and, that it
may be the cooler, they like to put ice or snow
into it.
The boats of the Greenlanders consist of a
light frame-work of wood, which is covered
with seals' skin. These leather boats 10 are of
two sorts ; namely, smaller ones for one man,
which are principally used in the chase of seals,
and larger ones, which are destined for the
conveyance of goods, and for the women.
The little boat, Kajak, or men's boat, is from
eight to nine ells long, pointed behind and
before, about three-fourths of an ell broad in
the middle, and scarcely half an ell deep. On
the light keel lie thin cross laths, on which
(10) The following remark of Professor B. Thorlacius in
his History of Thorail, called Orra-heens Stepson, where
the Greenland bouts are spoken of, may perhaps be interest-
ing to the philologer. In the ancient Scandinavian language
these leather boats are called hudkeipr, from hud (cutis), hide
or skin, and from keipr, num, rower's bench. We fiud in
Cicero, epicopus, a little fishing boat.
17
stand two slight boards that form the sides of
the Kajak, and on these again light cross
pieces. This frame-work is connected by
whalebone, and the whole boat is, on all sides,
both above and below, covered with seal skins.
The two sharp pointed ends, which rise a little,
are furnished, to render them more durable,
with slips of bone, and the points have also a
bone head. In the middle of the Kajak is a
round opening, into which the Greenlander
slips, and seats himself on the laths, which are
covered with soft skins, and draws the bottom
of his water-proof cloak, which is bound tight
round the neck and hands, so fast about a hoop
of wood or bone, which rises two fingers
above the opening, that no water can enter.
The oar is of tough wood, about three ells
long ; has at each end a thin blade three fingers
broad, edged with bone. The Greenlander
takes this oar in the middle, with both hands,
strikes the water on each side, and can in this
manner row ten or twelve miles, and even
more, in one day. He is not much afraid of
a storm in his Kajak, for, as long as a ship can
carry her topsail, he swims like a sea-bird
over the billows, and, if a wave dashes over
him, he soon appears again. If a wave
D
18
threatens to upset him, he supports himself by-
means of his oar ; and, if he does upset, he
makes a stroke with it under the water, and
rig-hts himself again. But it is not every
Greenlander that can attain this degree of skill,
and many a one loses his life when he upsets.
If he loses his oar, he generally perishes, unless
there be somebody very near who can render
him assistance. The Europeans hardly ever
learn to row the Kajak, at the most only in
calm weather, and where there are no waves :
this skill must be attained in youth.
The great boat, Umiak, or women's boat,
is from fourteen to eighteen ells in length, and
even longer ; about two or two and a half ells
broad, and, in the middle, one and a half ell
deep ; pointed behind and before, and flat 11 at
the bottom. The frame-work consists of light
laths, about three fingers broad ; on the keel,
cross pieces lie in grooves, and upon these, on
both sides of the keel, two laths in the form of
a bow, which, at the stem and stern, meet the
( 1 1 ) It is, however, not always quite flat, any more than the
Kajak ; for the keel goes, in some of them, deeper by its whole
thickness than the lower edge of the sides of the boat, so that
the skin, stretched over the keel, forms an angle, though a
very obtuse one.
19
keel, and form the lower edge of the sides of
the boat : on these two side laths, posts are
fixed, which are let into the upper board of
the boat, which is something- higher at both
ends, and they stand rather wider apart above,
which makes the boat broader at the top than
at the bottom. Through these posts, on both
sides, there passes a lath, parallel with the
lower edge, a full ell above it, from stem to
stern ; on this lath lie the rowers* benches,
which are from eight to twelve in number,
according to the length of the boat. The
laths, which form the upper edge, project
before and behind about two ells ; these ends,
which are generally united behind by a cross
bar, serve as handles to bring the boat on
shore, &c. 12 Behind is a little bench for the
steersman ; and in front a kind of staple,
through which a pole, with a sail spread on it,
may be put. This frame, the parts of which
are every where joined together with whale-
bone, and partly with wooden pegs (iron nails
would rust, and the rust would eat away the
skin which covers the boat), is covered at the
bottom and sides with seal leather. The oars
(12) The inferior boats of the women have not these
handles.
20
are short, with broad blades, which are set
round with bone and fastened with straps to
the edge of the boat. The sail is usually made
of entrails sewed tog-ether, or sometimes of
linen, and can only be used to sail before the
wind : the yard is fixed at right angles to the
abovementioned pole. In these boats, which
are rowed by women (in general four), the
Greenlanders remove, with their tents, house-
hold furniture, and all their property, 100 or
200 miles to the north and south. The men
row beside it in the Kajak, and with this pro-
tect the boat from large waves ; and, in case
of need, keep it upright by taking hold of the
side. In such a boat, that is sometimes loaded
with ten or twenty people, they generally row
six miles in a day 13 . At night they unload,
set up their tent, draw the boat on shore, and
turn it upside down. If they cannot proceed
any farther by water, six or eight of them carry
(13) According to Wormskjold, who travelled in Greenland
in the year 1812, and afterwards accompanied Captain Von
Kotzebue on his voyage of discovery, and, by the latest news,
was on the Sandwich Islands, a women's boat, fourteen or
sixteen ells in length, manned with a steersman and four women
to row, besides two or three travellers, and loaded with a weight
of above two ship-pounds, generally goes nine or more miles in
a day, in calm water, but then the boat is not heavy laden.
21
the boat on their heads, by land, to a
place where they can again proceed by wa-
ter.
The seal is, for the Greenlander, what the
reindeer is for the Laplanders, the principal
source of wealth : without it they could not
exist. They feed on the flesh of the seal j its
skin serves them for clothing 1 , and for the co-
vering- of their habitation ; and its blubber
gives them light and warmth : the seal, there-
fore, provides for them the principal necessaries
of life. Several sea-fowls, the whale and nar-
val, and, particularly, the whitefish, also con-
tribute ; the flesh of the latter affords them an
agreeable food, but they particularly use the
entrails of this fish for windows, and curtains
for tents, and the sinews, which can be split
extremely fine, for thread. The chase on the
water is, therefore, their main business, and
every thing relating to it highly important to
the Greenlanders : it is of three kinds ; the
chase of seals, of birds, and of whales. The
chase of seals, as the most important, is again
divided into three different kinds ; first, they
are caught with the bladder , secondly, by
hunting ; and, thirdly, by shooting them on
the ice. itifli
22
To catch seals with the bladder which
the Greenlanders undertake, singly, each for
himself to catch a larger kind of seals, they
use the following" apparatus, which is contrived
with great ingenuity, and well adapted to
the object.
1. The harpoon is composed of several
pieces, because otherwise the seal would break
it. In the fore part of the shaft, which is
about three ells long, and an inch and a half
or two inches thick, a peg of bone is fitted,
and so fastened to the shaft that it can come
out. On this peg is the bone harpoon head,
full half a span along, provided with double
barbs, and an iron point an inch broad. To
the harpoon hangs a thong eight or nine
fathoms in length, the other end of which
is fastened to a bladder. This thong, by
means of a bone ring, which is held by a peg
to the middle of the shaft, is so fastened to the
latter, that it easily parts from it. The blad-
der, made of the skin of a small seal sewed
together, has two holes provided with bone
stoppers to blow it up. The Greenlander,
when he blows it up, takes the stopper in
his mouth, that he may immediately put it in
with his tongue, for fear the air should escape
23
out of the bladder ; afterwards he fastens the
stopper properly with his hands. The spear
is not thrown out of the hand, but, in order to
give the throw more force, laid upon a casting
board which is about an ell long", four inches
broad before, and one inch behind. At the
fore end notches are cut on both sides, to hold
it fast with the fore -finger and thumb. Pegs
in the shaft fit into holes on the surface of
this board, which the Greenlander, when he
throws, retains in his hand.
2. The great spear consists of a shaft two
ells and a half long, and two inches and a half
or three inches thick in the middle, in the
fore end of which is fitted a piece of bone
which is tied to it, and has a sharp iron point
without a barb. The bone and the iron
together are about half an ell long. This
point separates from the shaft when the spear
strikes the object. In the middle of the shaft,
on both sides, a bone peg is fixed, behind
which the fore-finger and the thumb are placed
to throw the spear.
3. The small spear is about an ell long,
without the point. At the fore end, where it
is thicker than at the other, a narrow iron
blade, full half an ell long, is fixed.
24
This apparatus is fastened by buttons to
the right side of the Kajak, between straps
that are stretched on the boat, and has its
points lying" between bone pegs fixed on the
edge of the Kajak in front. Before the Green-
lander, lies the thong rolled up, and behind
him the bladder, which is prevented from fall-
ing out of its place by bone pegs fixed in the
back part of the Kajak. When the Green-
lander, thus prepared, perceives a seal, he first
examines whether every thing about the har-
poon, particularly the thong, is in order ; he
endeavours then to approach the seal within
four or six fathom, takes the harpoon with the
casting-board, and, while he throws the har-
poon at the seal, takes the oar in his left hand.
If the harpoon pierces above the barbs, it
separates from the shaft, and the thong un-
rols. At the same moment the Greenlander
pushes the bladder into the water, for the seal,
as soon as he finds himself struck, darts like
an arrow to the bottom. The Greenlander
now lays the casting-board, and the shaft
which is swimming on the water, in their
proper place, and takes the great spear to
throw it at the seal as soon as he appears.
The seal often draws the bladder under the
25
water, though it can bear a hundred weight
and a half, but exhausts himself so much by-
it, that he is forced soon to rise again to take
breath. As soon as he rises, the Greenlander
throws his lance and wounds him in the body ;
it immediately falls out, because it has no
barb : he repeats this till the seal is quite
exhausted, and then kills him with the lit-
tle spear. Then he stops all the wounds,
to preserve the blood, which is kept to make
soup ; blows up the seal between the hide and
the flesh, in order to convey it away the more
easily, and ties it fast to the Kajak.
In this species of chase the Greenlander
is exposed to the greatest dangers. The thong,
in rapidly unrolling, may get entangled, and
catch hold of the Kajak, which the seal then
easily overturns and drags under the water ;
or the half dead seal may bite holes in the
Kajak if it comes too near him. In both
these cases the Greenlander generally pe-
rishes.
For what I call hunting the seal, the
Greenlander uses a dart. The shaft is about
two ells and a half long. It has a head of
iron, half an ell long, a finger thick, with
two notches instead of barbs, which, when the
26
dart strikes, comes out of the shaft, but
remains hanging to the middle of it by a
short strap ; at the other end of the shaft a
bladder is fastened, that the seal may tire him-
self. When the small seals enter the creeks
in the autumn, the Greenlanders, collected in
bodies, intercept their passage, frighten them
under the water by loud cries, and throwing
stones, that, as they cannot long hold out with-
out taking air, they may exhaust themselves,
and at last remain so long above water, that
their pursuers can surround them, and strike
them with their darts. Sometimes the seals
take refuge on shore, where they are re-
ceived by the women and children with
stones and clubs, and, afterwards, pierced by
the men. This chase is very amusing to
the Greenlanders, and, at the same time, so
profitable, that one man may get eight or
ten seals in a day for his own share.
The catching of seals on the ice is usual,
particularly in Disco-bay, where the inlets
are generally hard frozen in the winter.
The Greenlanders watch for the seals when
they come to take breath at the air-holes
which they have made in the ice, and then
kill them with their harpoons. They hold
27
in their hand the thong- fastened to the
harpoon. It is seldom that the huntsman
misses his prey, and one man may in this
manner catch ten seals in a day. With
an iron fastened to the other end of the
shaft the hole in the ice is enlarged, and
the seal drawn out.
Another method of taking 1 these animals
is with the long pole, which is done by
two persons. Near to the air-hole, they cut
a hole in the ice, large enough clearly to
see through it under the ice. One of the
hunters lays himself on his belly upon a
sledge, and covers his head above, that the
light may not hinder him from seeing- under
the ice. In one hand, he holds one end of a
pole, about three fathoms in length, to which
the harpoon head is fixed, over the air-hole,
and in the other hand the end of the thong-.
The other hunter stands quite still at the air-
hole, and holds the pole perpendicularly over
it. The first then begins to whistle, by
which he attracts the seals, which are very
curious. At the right moment he gives a
sign, the hunter who is standing strikes, and
the curious seal is generally pierced.
The Greenlandert also shoot many seals
23
when they lie asleep on the ice. This way
of hunting* the seal is not successful, unless
there be a great many of these animals in the
bay, the air clear, and the cold not too severe,
because otherwise they do not like to crawl
upon the ice. Neither must any half-frozen
snow be on the ice, because it creaks when it
is trodden upon : new fallen snow, on the
other hand, assists the chase, which is con-
ducted as follows. The Greenlander binds
his g"un to a little sledge, the bottom of which
is covered with rough skins, and so contrived
that a sail may be put up. When he sees a
seal asleep, he keeps back the dog's 14 , ap-
proaches softly with his sledge to the place
where the seal lies : when there is new fallen
snow, and the surface of it is not frozen, he
can approach, upright, within 100 or even
80 paces ; otherwise not within 200 paces.
Then he lies down, crawls forward on his
knees and elbows, so that the sail is turned
towards the seal, and sometimes looks over the
(14) Dogs of a middling size, which resemble the wolf, are
the only domestic animals of the Greenlanders. They put
from four to ten dogs before their sledges, and make use of
them also to drag the seals from the ice, home. They are of
no use in the chase, except to hunt the white bears. Their
skins are used for trimming clothes.
sail, behind which he creeps unseen by the
seal, in order to see if the animal continues to
lie still. When he has got within shot, ge-
nerally 40 or bO paces, he fires. If fortune
favors him, he can catch, in this manner, ten
or twelve seals in a day.
The whale fishery is not carried on by the
Greenlanders on their own account, but in
conjunction with the Danes, with the boats
and apparatus -of the company. Their own
apparatus is so imperfect, that, though they
indeed sometimes killed a whale, their prey too
often escaped them. Cranz describes the whale-
fishery as it was formerly carried on nearly
as follows. " When the Greenlanders go
upon the whale-fishery, they dress themselves
tn their best clothes, for they believe that the
whale flies, or, as soon as he is dead, sinks, if
any one has dirty clothes on, particularly if
he had touched a dead body in them 15 . The
men row boldly to the whale, and throw
several harpoons at him, to which bladders
made of large seal-skins are fastened. These
(15) It is possible that this belief formerly prevailed; but at
present the Greeulander dresses, because he is coming to a
large assembly, where those who are ill dressed are not well
received.
30
bladders prevent the fish from remaining" long
under the water, and tire him out. When
he is quite exhausted, the Greenlanders
kill him with their little spears. On these
occasions, the women are present in the
women's boats, and tow the dead animal to
shore, while the men, having- put on their
cloaks 16 , leap upon the fish, and into the sea,
(the cloak puffs up in the water, so that they
do not sink, but, as it were, stand in the water)
cut off the blubber, and the barbs, or whale-
bone." The proper whale, and the narval,
are caught only in the north , the pottfish,
and the smaller kinds, only in the south.
The Greenlanders take the white-fish, and
other smaller whales, as they do the seal,
with the harpoon, which is then provided
with feathers made of whalebone, about a
span long-, and two or three fingers broad,
that they may fly more steadily.
To catch birds, that is sea fowl, the Green-
landers use a lance two ells and a half long",
and three inches thick in the middle. In
the fore end is fitted a round blunt iron,
(16) Cloaks of seal skin, which have the jacket, breeches,
stockings, shoes, gloves, and cap, all of one piece, and are
drawn fast round the head.
31
about half an ell long 1 , only once notched ;
but, as the sea-fowl easily avoids the blow,
there are fixed, in the middle of the shaft,
three or four pointed hooks (which stand round
the shaft like willow branches round the trunk),
that the bird may be pierced by one of them
if the point misses : these hooks are about a
span long-, and thrice notched.
Among* the fishing* tackle peculiar to the
Greenlanders, their lines of whalebone are
especially remarkable ; they consist of whale-
bone split very fine, which are tied together,
and often 200 fathoms in length, and even
longer : these lines are used in fishing" on the
ice, to catch a kind of hollibut 17 , which are
found only in the Greenland seas. The Green-
landers spear salmon and salmon-trout with
a shaft, to which two bone or iron points are
fastened. Sometimes they build a dam or
weir of stones at the mouths of the rivers and
streams, over which the fish pass at high water,
(17) This fish, which our author mentions, is called, in the
Greenland language, kalleraglik (Danish helleflynder), and
is only taken on the ice, between the clefts in it. A larger
kind of fish, which is caught also in the Danish seas, and is
called, in Greenland, ntttarnak (Danish hellefisk), is taken by
the Greenlanders, in women's boats, with lines made of hemp,
which are more manageable than the lines of whalebone.
32
but at the ebb are left almost on dry land,
and are easily taken 18 .
In the chase on shore, the Greenlanders for-
merly made use of bows and arrows ; but,
since they have obtained fire-arms, these are
no more to be met with. Their bows were of
fir, about three ells long, and, to make them
stiffer, they were bound round with whalebone
and sinews ; the string was of sinews, and the
arrow of wood, with a barbed bone point, and
with feathers to steady it. Hunting is more
an amusement to the Greenlanders than a
source of advantage 19 , and is chiefly con-
(J 8) The Danes catch the river fish in nets; of late they
have successfully attempted to catch seals, and even white-
fish, in that manner. But the Greenlanders are not very suc-
cessful in this way, partly because they do not much like it,
but prefer their ancient mode ; and partly because they are in
want of good nets, which they cannot procure.
(19) Almost all the accounts from Greenland agree that it
were much to be wished that the Greenlanders would give up
hunting entirely, and confine themselves wholly to fishing.
In order to promote this object, as far as the Christian Green-
landers are concerned, some officers of the company have
imagined it would be advisable to change the time for ad-
ministering the sacrament from April to August, because the
Greenlanders would lose less by neglecting their fishery iu
August than iu April, when it is very important ; and because
this religious solemnity now induces them to leave their winter
habitations earlier, and afterwards to roam about.
33
fined to the chase of the reindeer 20 . They
spend a great part of the summer, with their
wives and children, in this hunting". When
they have discovered a troop of reindeer, they
surround them ; the women and children drive
them, by shouts and noise, to narrow paths
and passages, where the men lie in wait
to shoot them. If they are not in sufficient
numbers to surround the reindeer, they set up
white poles, on the top of which a piece of turf
is fixed, on both sides of the way, that the
reindeer have to pass, which do not venture to
go between the white poles.
The hunting- of the bear is attended with
danger ; because the bear, if the ball misses
him, or if he does not fall at the first shot,
rushes on the hunter, who generally perishes
if the bear reaches him. The following" is the
(20) It is remarkable that the Greenlandcrs, though they
are so fond of reindeer's flesh, entirely neglect to use them for
domestic purposes. They seem incapable of taming any thing
but dogs ; they consider all other animals as objects of chase,
and as useless till they have deprived them of life. But this
seems less surprising when we consider their inclination and
habit of changing their abode ; they could not take tame
reindeer in their journies, because they are performed by
water, and must be so, since, in the interior of the country, and
often on the coast, it is not possible to proceed far on account
of the snow and ice.
34
usual method of proceeding in the chase of the
bear : When one of these animals appears,
the Greenlanders go in their sledges to meet
him, and, when they are within shot, loosen
some dogs from the sledges, which keep the
bear in check while they are preparing to fire*
The bear is afraid of the dogs, which are very
eager after him ; but if one of them comes too
near him, he immediately knocks him down
with his paw. The Greenlanders endeavour to
wound him in the shoulder or the belly, be-
cause a shot in these parts soonest kills him.
It is very seldom that one person ventures to
attack him alone, as the danger is too great if
the bear is not immediately killed. It is re^-
markable, however, that this ferocious animal
is afraid of the whip : thus, for instance, a few
years ago a hunter, whose sledge had a better
team (of dogs) than those of his companions,
hastened before them, because he was afraid
that one of them would shoot the bear, which
he wished to shoot himself. In his hurry he
missed him : the bear rushed furiously upon
him, and threw him down. The other hunters,
who by this time had got near enough, were
going to shoot at the bear as he rushed on
their companion ; but an old Greeenlander
35
dissuaded them, ran up, and gave the bear
some blows with the dog whip. The bear
fled, and the first hunter escaped with his
fright, and some trifling bites in his arm.
The fox is taken by the Greenlanders alive
(only for the sake of his skin), in stone traps.
As soon as the fox touches a bar, to which
the bait is fastened, the door, which is a large
flat thin stone, falls down. The snow fowl
(Ryper), which is very stupid, is easily caught
in snares, stoned to death, or shot.
The Greenlanders make no use of the pro-
ductions of the mineral kingdom, except of
the talc, of which they make lamps and
kettles, particularly in the country about
Godthaab. The manufacture of these ves-
sels, and of their boats, hunting apparatus,
their clothes, and some trifles, such as to-
bacco pouches, pocket-books, &c. shews that
they have a natural turn for mechanical arts,
and extraordinary patience in works of this
kind. The men take upon themselves only
the making of their hunting apparatus, of
the wood work for their boats, tents, houses,
and the like, because the seal fishery, being
their chief source of subsistence, requires al-
most all their time and efforts : all other
36
domestic labours are left to the women. The
latter build the walls of the houses and of
the tents, prepare the skins, cover the boats,
sew the clothes, &c. In all these works, the
greatest industry is displayed. The hunting"
apparatus, and the wood- work, are made,
though only by the eye, with the greatest ex-
actness, and the parts are most carefully joined
together. The cloaks, and all the articles of
leather, are so strongly and neatly sewn, that
no furrier could do his work better ; and those
who have not seen such sewing, cannot form
an idea of it. The preparation of the leather,
which is a chief employment of the women,
is effected by urine, in which the rough furs
are steeped a shorter time, in order to draw
out the grease ; but the smooth skins a longer
time, in order to loosen the hair. All the
skins are first scraped with shells, or with bone
scraping knives, and those which are designed
for clothing, are at the same time scraped
thinner. From the skins designed to cover
their boats, the fat is not wholly taken off.
The rough skins and furs, when they are
sufficiently steeped, are spread out, and dried
in the open air ; but from the others, when
the urine has drained off, the hair is scraped
37
with a knife, or, which the Greenland women
find more convenient, pulled off with the
teeth. They are then soaked in fresh water,
spread out and dried. Those intended to be
used for clothes, are lastly rubbed between
the hands, and made pliable. If a boat is
to be covered, the skins from which the hair
has been taken are sewed together according"
to the size of the boat, soaked in sea-water,
and then the boat covered with them, while
they are still quite wet. Last of all, the
seams are smeared with old fat of seals. The
thongs used in fishing, are cut round the seal,
that they may be of the proper length, that
is eight or nine fathoms. When they are
tanned, smooth, and dry, they are smeared
with well boiled train oil, generally that
which runs from the lamps. The Green-
landers use these thongs, also, to fasten the
dogs to the sledges, as they are stronger than
ropes, and do not take in the water.
The character of the Greenlanders has many
good features. They are good natured, soci-
able, and open hearted; cheerful and con-
tented. Kindness has more influence upon
them, as it has upon all free men, than harsh-
ness. They live in great harmony with each
38
other. Quarrels and disputes are seldom heard
among- them ; blows are still more rare,
for the fear of giving" each other offence
seems to be innate in them. If one of them
is sensibly offended, he usually challenges
his adversary to a combat, not with the fist,
but in singing. He composes a song, in
which he severely satirizes his adversary, and
sings it, supported by his friends, before a
great assembly. The adversary answers sing-
ing, also supported by his friends. If, in
the opinion of the assembly, the former gains
the victory, he has a right to appropriate
to himself the best articles of the property of
the vanquished ; but if he is defeated, he ex-
poses himself to ridicule and scorn 21 . Their
cheerfulness shews itself in jokes, talkativeness,
and singing, of which they are very fond.
The reader must not understand here any arti-
ficial singing : their songs consist of short
sentences without rhyme, and generally ter-
minate in the unmeaning syllables Amna
aja, Aja aja, A ha hu ! which is like the Tol
de rol de rol, &c. in many of our popular
songs.
(21) It is true that very great insults were formerly, and,
sometimes, perhaps are even now, revenged by assassination.
39
There are few nations poorer than the
Greenlanders ; but it would be difficult to
find a people, who, in spite of this poverty,
are more contented with their fate than they,
They are very temperate, and, when they
have no seals flesh, are contented with bad
fish ; and if they have not even these, they
satisfy their hunger with sea weed. A con-
sequence of this temperance is their thought-
lessness, which often costs them dear. If they
have a good supply, they do not spare it,
and are, therefore, often obliged to endure
want. In winter, when the seals are less nu-
merous near the shore, or when drifting ice
and bad weather impede the fishery, the
Greenlanders live on dried fish. The quan-
tities of hollibut, cod, and smelts, which are
found on the coast, might furnish them with
an abundant provision for winter, but they are
not so diligent in their fishery, as were to be
wished for their own advantage 22 . Careless of
the future, they are more eager to pass the best
season of the year in hunting reindeer, than
to obtain abundant provisions at a good fish-
^S) That they make still less use of the river fishery, which
would supply them with abundance of salmon and trout, is
natural, as it does not so amply reward them as the sea fishery.
40
ing place, to lay up a stock for bad times,
and thus escape the danger and torments of
famine. They generally spend the short sum-
mer among* the rocks, to hunt the reindeer,
and to gratify the vanity of their wives and
daughters 23 . The little reindeer flesh, on
which they can reckon, they generally con-
sume immediately, and seldom bring any of
it home. The reindeer skins are at that
season of little value, and can scarcely be
used for any thing except for women's panta-
loons, which are of little durability, and a
mere article of luxury. They love finery, as
appears from the gay trimming of their dresses,
tent curtains, &c. and keep their new clothes
very clean ; but they are in general very un-
cleanly. This uncleanliness is, however, a
natural consequence of their way of living
(as they are always in the midst of blubber and
train oil), their poverty, and the confined
space of their dwellings.
(23) The demon of vanity also reigns in Greenland among
the female sex. A dress of handsome reindeer skins is for a
Greenland woman, what the finest ornaments are for our
ladies. A Greenland girl thinks it an honour to give her hand to
a skilful reindeer hunter; and a woman is not a little proud,
when, talking with another of her sex, she relates at length
how many reindeer her husband has killed.
41
They possess much national pride, and think
that no nation can be esteemed equal to them.
As the Roman, in ancient times, said proud-
ly, " I am a Roman citizen," so we now hear
the Greenlander say, in the same manner, " I
am a Greenlander." If they are very well
disposed to any one, and wish to make him
a flattering" compliment, they say, " You are
a Greenlander." 24 With the highest ideas of
their own worth, they combine the conviction
of the superiority of their country, and prefer
the abode among its naked sterile rocks to
every other. Attempts have been made to
make them sensible of the better condition of
the Europeans; but, even Greenlanders who
are acquainted with it, and who have been
taken to Denmark, and well used, wished
nothing so much as to return to the mode of
living" of their countrymen, and could, at
the most, be brought to confess, that the Eu-
ropeans were as happy as they. At Copen-
(24) Tbey call themselves Innuil, which in a more extensive
sense, means Inhabitant, Man. They call the Europeans
Kabiuruet, foreigners. In a more limited sense, this word
means a Dane ; and they have proper names for the nations
who go to Greenland on the whale fishery. Thus they call
the Norwegians by a name which is equivalent to Longbeards,
because the ancient inhabitants of Norway wore long beards.
G
42
hagen, they said there was not Heaven enough,
and no reasonable degree of cold. They also
found that riches were too unequally divided,
and could not reconcile themselves to seeing
the rich refuse to assist the poor, which is
quite contrary to the custom of the Green-
landers.
They are excessively fond of their children,
and allow them the fullest liberty. They are
even angry with the Europeans when they
beat their children, and say, they do not
deserve to have children. They are surprised,
too, when they hear the Europeans scold
their servants or dependants, and say, " You
treat your fellow-creatures as the Greenlander
does his dogs." They are not disposed to
theft, as some persons have believed. The real
Greenlanders are in this respect much superior
to the lower classes of the Europeans and to
the Blendlings (or children of an European
father and a Greenland mother).
If they ever do take any thing from the Eu-
ropeans, it is a trifle ; and these pilferings,
which are very rare, are mostly committed only
by boys, who, perhaps, may take a little bread
and a piece of candle (which are among their
delicacies), a little tobacco, a few nails, &c.;;
43
for they think it is no sin to take some-
thing" from the Europeans, of whom they,
in general, have not the best opinion. Their
bad opinion of foreigners is but too often
strengthened by the excesses of the sailors.
That they have taken things from ships which
were stranded, and afterwards abandoned, can-
not seem strange, as these things, according
to their ideas, are without an owner, and
the example of the Europeans has confirmed
them in this opinion. How strict their ideas
of the right of property are, appears from
this, that if a Greenlander finds upon a distant
island a piece of ship timber, or other wood,
which has been driven on shore at high
water, and which he thinks may be useful
to him, and is not able to take it away
with him at the time, he only lays one or
two stones upon it, as a sign that it has
an owner, and he is then fully secure that
nobody will take it away.
It scarcely needs to be observed, that we
speak here of the Greenlanders in general, and
that there are bad people among- them who
do not answer to this description ; but these
are exceptions, few in number in proportion to
the whole ; and great crimes are very rarely
44
committed, unless superstition should interfere.
Superstition formerly led the Greenlanders, and
sometimes leads them even now, to the com-
mission of the most revolting" cruelties. The
belief in witchcraft is not quite eradicated in
Greenland, any more than in some other coun-
tries ; and if any body is so unfortunate as to
be suspected of witchcraft, he is not sure of
his life. The Greenlanders, according to
ancient custom, kill those whom they consider
as witches, or as the cause of the misfortunes
which befal them ; and the unhappy persons
who suffer this fate are particularly old women.
In former times, many drew this fate upon
themselves, by pretending- to cause and cure
diseases, to enchant arrows, to drive away
spirits, &c. ; and practised their mummeries
for payment, in order to obtain a livelihood.
The Greenlanders call by the name of
Illiseetsok such witches, of whom they believe
that they can do good, but that they do much
more evil. Several of these unhappy persons
have fallen, however, the victims of covetous-
ness, revenge, and other base passions, when
they were accused of witchcraft, and murdered.
Thus, for instance, in 1793, a young Green-
lander, of good character, named Aventak,
45
was murdered, in the district of Umanak, by
two brothers. He was a very active hunter,
went constantly upon the chase, or fishing-, so
that he was much more fortunate than his
murderers : the latter believed that he was the
cause of their inferior success, and murdered
him one day when he had rowed out in his
Kajak. His wife, of whom they also enter-
tained suspicions, was obliged to fly to another
island, where an equally hard fate awaited her.
A married Greenlander, named Apine, sought
to obtain more familiar intercourse with her
than she would allow ; and, incensed at the
failure of his design, he accused her of witch-
craft. As he could not entice her out of the
house, he resolved to murder her in it.
She learned his design, and fled, with her
child, to a third island, where a family had
set up their tent : she left behind, her women's
boat and tent, together with the Kajak and
gun of her late husband. Apine followed
her, entered the tent, and killed her by
stabbing her several times with a knife ; then,
without taking any thought of the unhappy
child of the woman whom he had murdered,
he returned to the island where she had left
46
her effects, and shared them with the murder-
ers of her husband, who then also resided there.
After superstition, revenge is the chief motive
for murder, and the sons or relations of the
murdered person (that is, if he was not an
Illiseetsok) are bound, according to the tra-
ditional opinion of theGreenlanders, to revenge
the murder upon the murderer in the same
manner. But murders are become more rare
since the dissemination of Christianity in
Greenland, even among- the heathens, the
number of whom is now very small ; who,
as the minority, must conform to the manner
of the rest, and have acquired more enlighten-
ed ideas from their Christian fellow-country-
men. Yet these ideas of the right of retalia-
tion have not been wholly eradicated, not-
withstanding the spreading of Christianity ;
and, but a few years ago, a young Greenlander,
whose father and brothers had been murdered
about sixteen years before, returned from South
Greenland, whither he had fled when a boy,
back to Disco Bay, in order to revenge the
murder of his family. He, however, desisted
from his purpose, as his countrymen took upon
them to punish the murderer. His family was
47
dispersed, and he left to provide for himself,
by which he was reduced to the greatest po-
verty, and was obliged to endure want in his
old age.
With respect to the religious notions of the
Greenlanders, they believed in two great
spirits and many inferior ones, the last of
which ruled the elements, &c. ; and that the
human soul, after death, joined to an ethereal
body, will be happy in a state resembling
this life. The great spirits were Torngarsuk 25 ,
and a female spirit for whom they had no
name. They, indeed, considered Torngarsuk
as the greatest and most powerful in the whole
world ; and wished to come to him after death,
because they believed that in his subterranean
abode there was constant summer, and abun-
dance of birds, fish, seals, and reindeer, which
were easily caught ; but they did not look
upon him as the creator of the world. They
had not much respect for the female spirit,
because she often enticed the sea animals into
(25) Torngarsuk is a contraction of Torngarsoak ; i. c, the
Grtat Spirit, which word again is composed of torngak,
spirit, and the augmentative nominal affix, rsoak. It is re-
markable that the North American savages also speak of the
Oreat Spirit.
48
the abyss. They paid no adoration or worship
to any spirit whatever ; nor had they any
priests, though the Angekoks have, perhaps,
been considered as such. These were their
wise men, enchanters, and magicians, who
pretended to be honoured with a more intimate
intercourse with Torngarsuk, their oracle, and
to have received from him a Torngak (spirit),
who communicated to them all wisdom, and
accompanied them to Torngarsuk, and to the
female spirit, when they undertook a journey
to consult with the former about the cure of
the sick, good weather, success in fishing, &c,
and to the latter about the dissolving of the
charm which bound the sea animals. Some
of them were not without knowledge of nature,
and were, therefore, able to draw pretty cer-
tain conclusions respecting the change of the
weather, good or ill success in fishing, &c, and
to give good advice. They endeavoured to
cure the sick by a regimen which was not at
all ridiculous ; but they gave their advice and
their prescriptions with many mummeries,
horrid grimaces, and pretended conversations
with their Torngak, in order (as they them-
selves confessed, when they were spoken to
rationally on the subject) to make themselves
49
respected by the ignorant, and to give im-
portance to their prescriptions. Some of them
were, perhaps, enthusiasts, who fell into trances,
and fancied they had visions and revelations ;
but most of them were arrant impostors, who
muttered over the sick, and blew upon them,
in order to cure them, and pretended to repair
the damaged soul, or even to fetch a new one.
With the belief in their art, these conjurors
have also vanished 26 ; and there are now no
Angekoks in all North Greenland, except
perhaps the most northerly part of the colony
of Upernavik ; or ihey have so lost their credit,
that if any one ventures to pretend that he
understands something of the ancient arts, he
is ridiculed, or perhaps permitted to practise
his tricks and grimaces to amuse the spectators.
(26) Even Cranz speaks of the decline of the credit of the
Angekoks, after the Missionaries had exposed several of their
impostures. He even says that already in his time there were
instances of heathens having thrown an Angekok out of the
house, during the pretended journey of his soul to Torn-
garsuk; but that, notwithstanding, they were respected by
many, because now and then a prediction was fulfilled, or a
patient recovered, over whom they had acted their mummeries;
and because, when the prediction was not accomplished, or the
cure failed, they prudently laid the blame on the obscurity ol
tlie oracle, or on the witchcraft of an lllitseetsok.
B
50
In the most southerly part of Greenland, where
the Missionaries did not penetrate till a later
period, and where the heathens are, conse-
quently, more numerous, there may, perhaps,
be still some Angekoks, and it is possible they
may still enjoy some consideration.
The Mission in Greenland has now subsisted
above eighty years ; and, if we reckon from
1721, when Hans Egede first arrived in Green-
land, nearly 100 years. If we except the
most northerly colony, Upernavik, where the
mission was established about twenty-five years
ago, and the most southerly colony, Julianes-
haab, where a mission was not established till
about forty years ago, there are scarcely any
heathens left in the known part of Greenland,
and these few old people, who will be all dead
in a few years.
Some persons fancy, notwithstanding, that
the Greenlanders have not, upon the whole,
been much benefited in respect to morals and
intellectual improvement ; and that the Chris-
tians are neither less vicious, nor believe less
in witchcraft, than the heathens. It is true,
there are wicked people here, who are guilty
of excesses, and superstition still leads to cruelty,
51
and even to murder 27 ; but are there not wicked
people every where ? Are there not examples,
even in the most enlightened and civilized
nations, that superstition leads to cruelties ?
And was it ever otherwise ?
It cannot, indeed, be denied, that the mis-
sion has by no means produced the advantage,
of late years, which it might have done, had it
been better directed ; but to affirm, for this
reason, that the Greenlanders have not gained
much by it, either in morality or in knowledge,
would be absurd. Many immoral customs,
which were practised among the heathens 28 ,
have now vanished ; the impostures of the
Angekoks have ceased ; the belief in witches
is not so general, at least the dreadful conse-
quences of it are not so frequent ; and such
(27) Within the last ten years, an elderly woman, who was
accused of witchcraft, was cut in pieces ; and a young man,
who, in a fit of madness, threatened to eat up all present, was
shot by his own mother.
(28) One amusement of the Greenlanders is, for example,
dancing. The company form a circle, in the middle of which
the dancer, with a drum in his hand, makes all kinds of grimaces
and contortions, singing and drumming at the same time.
The company sings, in chorus, Amna qja, &c. Wheu one
dancer is tired, another takes his place. On such occasions
the song generally contained obscene allusions, and the motions
of the dancers were accompanied with indecent attitudes.
52
revolting" cruelties, as effects of superstition,
of which Collin mentions an example, now no
longer occur. He relates that a father, by
the advice of his brother, who was an Ange-
kok, buried alive his child of two years of age,
in order to be himself cured of a disorder. The
wife of a merchant's clerk heard the child cry,
saved it, and took it to herself. About a fort-
night after, the relations were informed of it ;
they came to the woman, and begged her to
give up the child, assuring" her that no harm
should be done to him. From confidence or
fear, the woman gave up the child ; and the
relations again committed the same cruelty,
which was discovered too late to save the inno-
cent victim.
Among" a people who have neither magis-
trates nor laws, a decrease of immorality can
hardly be ascribed to any thing but mental
improvement. It would be difficult to find a
country in which the lower orders of people
are more civilized than the baptized Green-
landers : they are almost all, without excep-
tion, able to read and write ; and, in general,
they are fond of reading- the religious books
which are translated for them ; not because
they believe there is any merit in it, nor, as it
53
were, as a task, but in order to learn, and not
forget what they have learned : this cannot
fail to have good consequences ; and the mis-
sion has, at least, the merit of having taught
the Greenlanders to read well, and furnished
them with the means of farther improvement.
It is also a general custom among the baptized
Greenlanders, to say their prayers every night
and morning ; and nobody will deny that
this custom, introduced by the Missionaries,
and which turns the mind to religious senti-
ments, is very suitable to the Greenlander,
whose way of life exposes him to such conti-
nual danger, and cannot fail to produce good
effects.
Formerly, Greenland had ten ordained
Missionaries (few enough on an extent of coast
of about 300 miles); but, since 1792, the
number has been reduced, out of economy, to
the half ! In the latter years, when, on account
of the war with England, almost all commu-
nication was intercepted, even this insufficient
number was not complete ; at last there was
only one Missionary in Greenland : when he
left Greenland, last year, there was, in the
whole country, only one clergyman, who was
54
a native, and formerly a Catechist, and was
ordained by the beforementioned Missionary,
and is now clergyman at Godthaab. In the
month of April, this year (1817), four Mis-
sionaries went to Greenland, of whom two are
placed in South Greenland (namely, one in the
district of Julianeshaab, and the other in the
districts of Holsteinborg and Sukkertop), and
two in the north of Greenland (namely, one in
Disco Bay, and the other at Umanak) ; so that
the regular number is now complete. The
business of the Missionaries, according" to the
present arrangement, is principally to exercise
the ministerial functions ; to engage, instruct,
and examine Catechists. From the smallness
of their number, and the large districts which
are assigned to each, their time for these em-
ployments is very limited. In some districts
but very few Greenlanders, or none at all, live
in the place where the Missionary resides ; so
that his opportunities of instructing them are
chiefly, indeed entirely, confined to the jour-
nies which he is to make in his district. When
he arrives at the most distant part of it (thirty
or even sixty miles from his place of abode),
the Greenlanders are dispersed far and near,
55
perhaps over an extent of twenty to thirty
miles. They are, indeed, summoned tog-ether,
but do not all come, and thus even this op-
portunity is often only partially made use of.
I do not know upon what footing the
salaries of the Missionaries are now placed,
but a few years ago it was 300 rixdollars,
and, besides, an allowance of European pro-
visions ; this allowance consists in the fol-
lowing articles, which he receives every twen-
tieth day. Twenty-eight pounds of ship
biscuit, nine pounds of butter, twelve pounds
of salt meat, eight pounds of bacon, six
pounds of stock-fish, one bushel of peeled bar-
ley, and half a bushel of peas. As the Mis-
sionary was to keep his housekeeper with this,
the allowance was not very abundant, and
the salary not sufficient, particularly as he
must make many and often long journies at
his own expense. The following passage,
taken from a short essay of a former Mission-
ary, will place this matter in the true light.
To the remotest part of my district, I
had a journey of fifty-six long miles, that
is a hundred and twelve miles there and back.
This journey could not be completed in less
than eight weeks, if I executed in a proper
56
manner the various duties of my office, which
awaited me among- the Greenlanders there
assembled. During this long period, I had
to feed eight always hungry Greenlanders,
who attended me, daily with European food,
which is dearer in Greenland than elsewhere,
because the merchants, in the sale of the pro-
visions, very justly reckon the freight for send-
ing them over. These Greenlanders received
pretty high wages, in money or goods. In
this manner more than the half of my salary
of 300 dollars was expended. And if, as was
my duty, I now and then, during* the sum-
mer, visited the Greenlanders in the bay and
on the islands, which occasioned a propor-
tionate expense, what had I left to procure
myself the few conveniences to which I had
been accustomed in my mother country ?
Nothing-. My salary was not even suffici-
ent for the necessary journies. These must,
however, be made ; and if it is necessary in
any country in the world to make home
comfortable, it is truly in Greenland. Remote
from friends, relations, and country, between
mountains of ice, and the storms of the pole,
with poor nourishment and fatiguing labour,
the life of a Missionary in Greenland is hard
57
enough. The Missionaries should be so paid,
that, besides the expenses which the perform-
ance of their functions requires, they might
have something- over, to make life comforta-
ble. Even if their number were doubled,
and the district, and, consequently, the dis-
bursements of each Missionary less, his salary
must still be larger than it has hitherto been.
Strength to perform the duties of his office,
greater zeal in the fulfilment of them, and
the cheerfulness necessary to accomplish his
hard vocation, would be the happy conse-
quences. The Missionary, who is too con-
scientious to break his oath, to rob the king,
and to disgrace himself and his office by
prohibited trade, goes poor to Greenland, and
returns poorer still."
The assistants of the Missionaries, the Ca-
techists, are natives. In every district, where
there are several, one of them is chief Ca-
tehist. These chief Catechists are generally
Blendlings of good understanding, who speak,
or at least understand, Danish. They have a
salary of 30 or 40 rixdollars, and an allow-
ance of European provisions, like the work-
men in the colonies; but the other Cate-
chists, who are for the most part Greenlanders,
l
58
have 4, 6, or at the most 10 dollars per
annum, and no allowance. Such a salary
is not indeed very tempting- ; and it cannot
be wondered at, if such a native Catechist
prefers the employments, which he has to
follow, as a Greenlander for the support of
himself and his family, to his duties as a
Catechist. Only the little honour which is
united with the post of a Catechist, and the
consideration, which, if he is an honest man,
he enjoys among his countrymen, can tempt
a Greenlander to accept of such a place.
The Missionaries have also Sub-teachers in
their service ; but all they are capable of
(with few exceptions) consists in being" able
to repeat the catechism, and to read it, as well
as what is translated from the Bible. It is
extremely seldom that one of these Sub-
teachers ever succeeds any farther, than in
teaching* the Greenlanders to read, and this
is, in fact, all that can be expected, if we
consider the education he has received, and
the small recompence that he obtains (perhaps
one or two dollars per annum). It is difficult
to procure capable persons for the places of
Catechists, and Sub-teachers, because they
have no prospect of a tolerable situation in
59
the future, and the Missionaries can give them
only uncertain promises of farther promotion
in the service of the Mission.
In former times, many things were very
different. There were, formerly, two Provosts
in Greenland, but now there is no superintend-
ance whatever on the spot. It is, therefore,
possible that a Missionary may neglect his
duties, and, considering the disproportionate
extent of them, as the exact fulfilment of
them almost exceeds all human ability, and
considering the exceedingly small and in-
sufficient income of the Missionaries, there
can be no want of temptations, even for the
most honest man, and the most sensible of his
duties. When there were ten Missionaries in
Greenland, each of them could, in some mea-
sure, attend to his district, now and then
visit the Greenlanders, when they are dispersed
in summer in the islands, and the interior of
the bays, to superintend the conduct of the
Catechists, &c. In the present extensive dis-
tricts, a great deal must be neglected. The
Catechists neglect to give instructions ; ac-
counts are heard of excesses, which would
scarcely happen under the nearer inspection of
the Missionaries, whom the Greenlanders fear
as moral censors. Fathers of families, instead
60
of providing 1 for the winter, spend the best
part of the summer season in unprofitable
hunting-, which would more rarely happen if
the Missionary could visit them, and advise
for their good, &c.
Young* Students, who had not yet undergone
their examination in divinity, were formerly re-
ceived into the seminary for future Missionaries,
and instructed in the Greenland language, till,
after their academical course was ended, they
could enter upon a vacant place of Missionary
in Greenland ; but many poor Students, who
had enjoyed the emoluments appointed for
these seminarists, afterwards chose another
career, without being able to repay the sup-
port they had enjoyed. The college of the
Mission was often embarrassed to obtain can-
didates* for the vacant offices; and, there-
fore, resolved to receive into the seminary
only candidates of theology, who had passed
their examination. This arrangement, indeed,
caused a considerable saving of expense, but
had bad consequences in other respects. The
Candidates seldom engage as Missionaries, till
a few weeks before they are to go to Green-
land, for most of them avoid as long as
* Candidates are clergymen who have not yet obtained any
church preferment. T.
61
possible going to a country, of which they en-
tertain the most frightful ideas ; and when they
do, at length, suffer themselves to be engaged,
the time before their departure is hardly suf-
ficient to learn the first elements of the Green-
land language.
With such a trifling knowledge of this dif-
ficult language'' 9 , the newly arrived Missionary
(29) The language of Greenland (with the exception of a
few words resembling the Icelandic, and which are, undoubt-
edly, remains of the language of the extirpated Icelanders and
Norwegians) has no resemblance with any of the northern
or other European languages. On the other hand, it is said
to be almost the same as the language of the Esquimaux in
Labrador ; as, indeed, the Greenlanders and the Esquimaux
are said to resemble each other so nearly in every respect,
that there is no doubt of their being of the same origin.
The pronunciation is very difficult for an European. The many
words which eud in K and T, make it disagreeable to an ear
not accustomed to it. In things upon which the Greenlanders
have been accustomed to think and to speak, from ancient
times, their language is extremely rich, and has a peculiar
word for every thing and action, when they have the slightest
difference : it is, therefore, possible to say a great deal in this
language in a few words. On the other hand, for objects,
with which the Greenlanders have become acquainted at a
later period, such as subjects relative to morals, religion, arts
and sciences, their language is poor in expressions, which it
therefore borrows from the Danish. The words are declined
in various ways ; thus, for example, it has three numbers,
the singular, the dual, and the plural ; and the verbs have
twelve modes. The words too are variously compounded with
U2
can expect little or no assistance from the
native Catechists, who understand very little
Danish. In this manner, several years elapse
before he can converse with the Greenlanders
upon every-day subjects, much less upon the
doctrine which he is to teach. Before he can
be of any real service in enlightening- the
Greenlanders, half the time of his stay ha9
generally expired 30 . There can be no want
of opportunity to speak the Greenland lan-
guage, if he does not avoid the society of the
friendly, cheerful, and talkative Greenlanders,
and is not offended, that their ever lively
humour sometimes excites a smile or a sar-
castic remark when an European is embar-
rassed by their very difficult language. It
must not, however, be believed that the Green-
affixes and suffixes. You may, therefore, express yourself in
this language very concisely, and yet very forcibly and pre-
cisely ; but it appears, from what we have said, that it is very
difficult for a foreigner to learn it. He generally requires
several years before he learns thoroughly to understand the
Greenlanders, and to converse with them at his ease, and he
very seldom acquires that ease and force of expression which
the natives possess.
(30) This is, for an unmarried Missionary, six years, and
for a married Missionary, ten years ; because the latter re-
ceives a half allowance more provisions for his wife and
family.
63
landers indulge in such a smile at church : on
the contrary, they take a pleasure, when divine
service is over, in pointing- out to the preacher
those passages of his sermon, where, as far as
the language is concerned, he might have ex-
pressed himself more clearly.
In the former times of the Mission, it was
usual to send to Greenland, boys from the
Foundling Hospital, after they had been con-
firmed. By their intercourse with the natives,
they soon learned the language, and became
naturalized in a short time. When their age
admitted of it, they were employed as chief
Catechists ; and were of great use to the Mis-
sionaries, particularly to those who had but
lately arrived, till they had learned the lan-
guage. To these Catechists, who were amena-
ble to the laws, and might be brought to
account, the Missionary could, with more con-
fidence, entrust the remote places in his district,
than to a native Catechist, who, being an in-
dependent Greenlander, can only be punished
by a reproof, which indeed afflicts him, and
makes him ashamed, or by his discharge,
which he but little regards. The youth, who
are extremely desirous of learning, and are
endowed with rare quickness of comprehension,
64
then received much better, and, at least, more
constant instruction, than they now obtain from
the native Catechists, who, as we have ob-
served, rather apply (and indeed from neces-
sity) to their own business than to the instruc-
tion of youth -, and, after the manner of the
Greenlanders, are fond of roving- about the
country.
From all that has been said, it appears, that
the Mission, if it were regulated in a better
manner, might effect far more good than it at
present does. To this may be added a moral
obstacle, which the Mission is but little able
to check. Many Europeans, of the labouring
class, bring moral corruption with them, and
even make a point of honour of spreading it.
The Greenlander is like a child, and follows
every example without reflection 5 hence so
many offences against morality among the
Greenlanders, which were formerly unknown
among them. In their language, for instance,
there is no other word of affirmation than
* truly? and formerly they had an abhorrence
for strong liquors. They called brandy
mad water ; and if one of their countrymen
was drunk, they said, to ridicule him, that he
was become a foreigner. Now we see, if not
65
often, yet more frequently than formerly,
drunken Greenlanders ; and most of them are
able to roar out, in their intoxication, all kinds
of sailors' oaths. How much the bad example
of some Europeans hinders the good effects of
the Mission, is shewn by the answer of a Green-
lander, which is mentioned by Wolf in the
Essay which we quoted before. He had sent
for the Greenlander, to give him a serious
reproof for his disorderly way of life. " Re-
prove your countrymen," said he ; " they
should be better and wiser than we , but they
are much worse. When you have corrected
them, then call me to account."
It can therefore scarcely be wondered at, con-
sidering the defects in the establishment of the
Mission, that no more has been done towards
the moral and intellectual improvement of the
Greenlanders ; but we must be rather sur-
prised that so much has been effected by it.
Only the susceptibility of the Greenlanders for
religious sentiments, and their respect for the
teachers of religion, can explain this. Wolf,
in his Essay, expresses himself on these subjects
as follows : " I, for my part, do not know in
what country it should be more encouraging to
be a teacher, than precisely in Greenland,
I
66
The Greenlander has understanding- enough to
see, that the European must labour diligently
and incessantly, and struggle with many diffi-
culties, before he acquires sufficient knowledge
of the Greenland language, before he can in-
struct, edify, and comfort the children of the
country. For this reason, he loves and respects
the honest Missionary, who, by indefatigable
industry, has so far succeeded : I might almost
say he honours him as a superior being ; if we
add, that the Greenlander has much respect for
religion (I might say of many of them, that
they have a true sense of the value of religion,
and I have never met with a scoffer of religion
among the natives, except one, who was
hypochondriac), how much good might a
conscientious teacher effect there, if other ob-
stacles did not oppose him !"
The Moravian brethren have three settle-
ments in South Greenland. Their Missionaries,
particularly those in New Herrnhut, employ
the influence which they have over the Green-
landers of their community, in a manner which
renders their situation much worse. They are
often in want of the first necessaries ; and the
opportunity to bring up the youth to gain
their subsistence, is taken from them ; because
67
the brethren, not so much to render the labour
of instructing* more light, as because it is con-
formable to their religious notions, collect the
Greenlanders round their place of abode, where
there is little opportunity to obtain food, even
for a few families, much less for so many.
The representations made to the brethren upon
this subject have been in vain ; and the con-
sequences will be, that the produce of the
colony of Godthaab, which has already so
much diminished that it no longer pays the
expenses, will decline so much, that the colony
must be given up. In the other settlements
of the brethren, particularly at Lichtenau,
in the district of the important colony of
Julianeshaab, the drawing" tog-ether of the Green-
landers, and the inactivity produced by it,
have so much increased, that the consequences
will be felt by the trade, unless they are
checked in time : the houses of sisters, usual
among the brethren, are checks upon the popu-
lation and the productiveness of the colony 31 .
The Geographical knowledge of Greenland
extends but little beyond the settlements of the
Europeans on the western coast, and that coast
(31) See Efterretn om Gronl. af Colliu.
68
itself. The Danish settlements are, eighteen
larger and some smaller establishments : the
former are called colonies, and the latter fac-
tories 3 ", and communicate immediately with
Copenhagen ; the latter, the produce of which
is brought to some colony, are called out-places
(udsteder). All the settlements extend from
Nennortalik to the north of Upernavik, from
about the 59th to the 74th degree of north
latitude, and are divided into two inspector-
ships. The northern inspectorship contains
the following settlements :
1. The colony of Upernavik, the most
northerly settlement, was laid aside in the
year 1790, and made dependent upon the facto-
ry of Godhavn, because the communication by
sea was attended with so many difficulties. In
the year 1806, it was again made an inde-
pendent colony ; but afterwards, during the
war, entirely abandoned : this colony is now
settling again.
2. The colony of Umanak (formerly Noog-
soak), founded in 1758, is distinguished by
its excellent seal fishery, which is carried on
(32) Colonies and factories differ from each other only so
far, that the latter are subordinate to the former in commer-
cial concerns.
69
by the Greenlanders, in their Kajaks, and upon
the ice, and by the Danish garrison with nets,
which are let down between the openings of
the ice. There are here coal mines, which
supply the colony with that article.
3. The colony of Ritenbenk, founded in
1 755 (and transposing the letters of the name),
called after Count Berkentin, then President
of the Board of Trade, has a good whale-
fishery. Large quantities of seal blubber and
seals' skins are obtained from the natives.
4. The colony of J akobshavn( Jacob's haven),
founded in 1741, was, for some time, one of
the most advantageous establishments in Disco
Bay.
5. The colonies of Christianshaab (Christian's
Hope) founded in 1734 ; and,
6. The factory of Claushavn, under it,
founded in 1752, both in Disco Bay, have a
good fishery of seals and whitefish. The whale
fishery is more precarious. What was formerly
the dwelling of the Missionary at Claushavn,
is converted into a chapel.
7. The colony of Egedesminde (Egedes-
Memory), in Disco Bay, founded in the year
1759, by Captain Egede, and called after his
father, Hans Egede, consists of a great many
70 "
large and small islands. The proper settle-
ment is on the island of Ausiet. Between
this and the Fox Island (Roevoe) there is a
remarkably safe harbour. A great many seals
are caught here, especially in nets ; but the
collecting of eider-down is the most important
branch of industry : about 1000 pounds are
annually collected. Among many abandoned
fishing places, the island of Akkonak was very
well peopled, previously to the year 1786;
but an epidemic carried off, in the years
1785 and 1786, almost all the inhabitants,
and the Greenlanders are not to be persuaded
to settle again in such a place. There are
astonishing quantities of salmon here, parti-
cularly near Ekalurksuit, where the houses of
the colony formerly stood (about fifteen miles
more to the south on the continent). At the
distance of half a mile from this spot, there is
a lake, which is said to be twelve miles in
length, and surrounded by a fine country.
From this lake a large river flows into the sea ;
and in this river there is such an incredible
quantity of large salmon, that, in the year
1 792, three thousand five hundred were caught
in a week. This colony has two dependen-
cies, Rif kol and Wester -Eiland, where a few
71
colonists are settled in order to purchase their
articles from the Greenlanders. Near Rif kol,
on the north side of the island of Nunnursoak,
there is a roomy and safe harbour, which was
settled in 1792.
8. The factories, Kronprindsens-Eiland, and
9. Hunde-Eiland (Dog Island), both in
Disco Bay, are settlements for the whale
fishery. The first was settled in 1778, and
consists of fifty larger and smaller islands, in
which there is a great deal of scurvy-grass
(cochlearia) and good turf moor. On the
factory island there grows about as much
grass as would suffice for winter provision for
a few goats or sheep. In the year 1806,
an epidemic distemper carried off the greater
part of the strongest Greenlanders, so that
they have been scarce since that time. In the
years 1796 and 1798, an extraordinary num-
ber of little children died of a singular disease :
though their appetite was good, they pined
away ; their belly swelled ; and, after linger-
ing for some months, they died, without suf-
fering any great pain. By this, the Green-
landers who have children have been deterred
from settling here. The factory of Dog
Island, the inhabitants of which escaped the
72
epidemic in 1786, consists of twenty-two
islands.
1 0. The factory of Godhavn (Good Haven),
in Disco Island, subsists chiefly by the whale
fishery and the produce of a coal-mine, by
which the settlements in Disco Bay are sup-
plied with that article for fuel.
In the southern inspectorship there are the
following settlements :
1. The colony of Holsteenborg, founded in
1 759, and called after Count Holstein, then
President of the Missionary College, and the
factories dependent on it.
2. Kirgurtursuk, and
3. Omanarsuk, subsist chiefly by the whale
fishery. Here, too, about a thousand pounds
of eider-down are annually collected. In
the year 1773, a wooden church was erected
in this colony, the first that has been built
by the Danes in Greenland. In the district
of this colony, near Amertlok, there are found
remains of the habitations of the ancient Green-
landers : farther to the north, none such are
met with. A colony had been settled, at first,
in Sydbay, which was repeatedly destroyed by
the Dutch, and was wholly abandoned after
Holsteinborg was founded.
73
4. The colony of Ny-Sukkertop is one of
the most important settlements, on account of
the quantity of seals' blubber which is procured
there, and has one of the safest and best har-
bours in the country. The colony, which
was founded in the year 1755, under the name
of Sukkertop, but was removed, in the year
1783, much farther to the south, under the
present name, is called after three pointed
hills, which, at a distance, resemble sugar-
loaves.
5. The colony of Godthaab (Good Hope),
the oldest in the country, was first founded in
the year 1721, by Hans Egede, on the island
of Kangek, which is called by the Danes
Haabets-Oe (Island of Hope), but was, in
1 728, removed to the continent. There be-
long under this colony,
6. The factory of Fiskernaes (Fisher Point,
or Fisher Cape), founded in 1754. The Danes
here carry on the seal fishery with nets, which
are fifty fathoms long, and often longer, and
eight or ten fathoms deep, and are set between
the islands, where the seals frequent, so that
numbers are taken at once. The trade with
the natives is inconsiderable, because the po-
pulation is only small, and the greater part
L
74
belongs to the community of the Moravian
Brethren, who have here two settlements, and
fix their abode as near as possible to the house
of meeting". The best places for fishing are,
therefore, not occupied ; and the Greenlanders,
who are often reduced to want the first neces-
saries of life, have nothing left to sell. The
settlements of the Moravian Brethren are,
New Herrnhut, in the neighbourhood of
Godthaab, founded in 1733; and Lichtenfels,
not far from Fiskernaes, founded in 1758.
In this district, particularly in an arm of JBals
Revier, talc is found, of which the Greenland-
ers make lamps and kettles : here also are
many remains of ancient dwellings.
7. The colony of Frederikshaab (Frederick's
Hope), founded in 1742, has a district extend-
ing so far to the south, that it has been found
necessary to establish an out-place at Arsut,
where a colonist is settled, who purchases of
the Greenlanders the articles they have to sell,
that they may not be lost to the trade. In
this district also there is some talc.
8. The colony of Julianeshaab (Juliana's
Hope), the most southerly, and on account of
the pretty certain purchase of seals' blubber,
seals' skins, and foxes' skins, the most im-
75
portant colony, was founded in 1775, and its
district extends to the most southerly point of
Greenland, Statenhuk, and beyond it, along
the east side, as far as inhabitants are known
to exist. As these are so far remote from the
colony, that it is difficult for them to bring
thither any thing" but seal skins, an out-place
is established at Nennortalik (Bear's Island),
where a colonist is fixed, to buy the seals'
blubber, that it may not be lost. This colony
is the only one where the servants of the com-
pany can keep horned cattle, though it is
difficult enough to procure winter fodder for a
few beasts, because the breeding of cattle can
be carried on only as an accessary branch of
employment, and not in a manner adapted to
the nature of the country. Farther up the
bays, some single families living there find
good pasturage for a few sheep. A small
wood of low birch trees has furnished the co-
lony with the necessary fuel ; but it has been
found more advantageous to supply the colony
with fuel from Copenhagen, because the felling
of wood caused more important labours to be
neglected. The difficulty of sending vessels
to this colony, which occasioned frequent losses,
induced the purchase of a galliot, which re-
76
mains constantly in Greenland, to convey
the produce of Julianeshaab to Frederiks-
haab, and to carry back to the former colony
every thing- necessary for its supply. In the
district of this colony, a great many bays
go deep into the land, and on these bays are
found numerous vestiges of the habitations
of former inhabitants. Here also is the most
southerly settlement of the Moravian Brethren,
Lichtenau, near the island of Onartok, which
has three warm springs.
Among the many bays along the whole
coast which run up into the country, the fol-
lowing appear to be the most remarkable.
1 . Isefjord (Ice bay, Icecreek), between the
colony of Jacobshavn and the factory of
Claushavn.
2. Balsrevier, in which the colony of God-
thaab lies.
3. Amarilikfjord, rather farther to the
south. This bay runs many miles up the
country, and then divides into several arms*
4. Bjoernesund (Bear Sound), and
b. Iisblink (generally called in the maps,
Witte blink), between the factory of Fisker-
naes and the colony of Frederikshaab. Over
the mouth of this bay, there is a dreadful
77
bridge of ice, upon which you may pass from
one side to the other, and from which, at the
distance of many miles, a light is seen in
the air, like that of the Aurora Borealis.
These arches of ice being* from twenty to
sixty ells in height, it would be easy to
sail under them, if there were not reason to
fear the falling pieces of ice: within this
icy bridge, the water is open.
6. Sermeliarsok, south of Frederikshaab.
Before this bay lies the island of Nunarsoak
(Desolation).
This last bay has been long considered to
be Frobisher's Strait, and we find this strait
so misplaced in an English Chart (the Green-
land Pilot), published in the year 1800,
though there cannot well be the least doubt
but that it is to be looked for much far-
ther westward, and to the north of Hud-
son's bay. In the same manner it is con-
jectured there was formerly a passage to the
east side, through the Bear sound and Ise-
fjord. That these bays, and perhaps others,
go through the country, is not incredible ;
but whether they formerly afforded a passage
through, is another question. This opi-
nion is, perhaps, chiefly founded on ancient
7S
uncertain traditions of the Greenlanders : the
old Icelandic accounts of Greenland, as far
as I am acquainted with them, make no men-
tion of such a passage.
The population of Greenland is very small
in proportion to the extent of the country.
According to an account taken in 1798, the
number of the natives was found not to
exceed about 5100 persons. In the year
1805, the population, so far as it could be
ascertained, was full 6000 persons. These
two statements, however, are neither of them
quite to be depended on, as may be pre-
sumed from the rambling life of the Green-
landers. The more frequent marriages of Da-
nish subaltern officers of the company with
Greenland women, have probably much con-
tributed to the increase of the population.
For the administration of the Colonies and
of the Trade, there are two Inspectors, and
about thirty superior officers (Merchants and
Clerks). In the several settlements there are
about 160 inferior officers, as artisans, sailors,
and workmen, among whom there have al-
ways been some natives. Of late years, the
number of these natives has been particularly
increased with Blendlings, who, when well
79
directed and treated, are by no means infe-
rior to the Europeans in capacity for labour ; by
which much is gained, both in an economical
and moral point of view ; for these Blendlings
are satisfied with smaller wages than the Eu-
ropeans, whose morals, in general, are no good
example for the Greenlanders.
Of the interior of the country, little or no-
thing is known, because no trouble has been
taken to explore it, on the supposition that,
since the passage to Old Greenland has been
forgotten, the country has lost in respect to
vegetation and pasturage. That such a sup-
position is entertained is no great wonder.
People had formed exaggerated ideas of the
beauty of Old Greenland, and, on the first
rediscovery of the country, hardly any thing
was found but naked rocks and rude coasts.
The first thought which naturally arose, was,
that the country had grown worse, and no-
thing more was thought of than to make
use of it for the purposes to which it seemed
adapted ; namely, for the whale and seal fish-
ery, and for trade : new colonies were founded
in the most convenient places, that is upon
the coasts* The new settlers were too much
occupied with their trade to be able to ex-
80
amine whether their preconceived opinion of
the country was well founded.
The daily sight of moss, and naked rocks
of snow and ice, served to confirm this opi-
nion, and, probably, still serves rather to in-
crease the bad idea of Greenland, which the
colonists bring with them, than to make them
recognize in it the former abode of a people
whose employment was the breeding of cattle;
but how much the outside may deceive us
here, as it does in other cases, appears from this
circumstance, that the frightfully desolate and
naked island of Nunarsoak, which lies before
the fine bay, in the district of the colony
of Julianeshaab, gave occasion to call this
better part of the country, " Desolation.' '
The circumstance that the natives live al-
ways on the coast, and use the interior of
the country only a short time, for the pur-
poses of hunting, may also have contributed
to make people entertain no better opinion
of it than of the coast ; but among a peo-
ple, who, from ancient times, have lived by
the sea, and have no conception of agri-
culture and breeding of cattle, this circum-
stance cannot be taken into account.
The Europeans had settled an Greenland
81
above half a century before they paid any
attention to the many traces of former in-
habitants which are found in the district of
Julianeshaab ; and the remains of ancient ha-
bitations found in the more northern parts,
which are mentioned already by Egede, Cranz,
&c, are so inconsiderable, that they rather
strengthen the general prejudices of the un-
fitness of the country for the breeding of
cattle, than give a clear idea of the means
which it affords for subsistence, and of its
former application to the breeding of cattle,
and the possibility of still turning it to the
same use". It is hardly to be doubted that
in the interior of the country, on the shores
(S3) According to ancient accounts, there were upon the
east side of the country (Oesterboigd) 1 90 Bygde or Boigde
(a collection of habitations, which, in some measure, lie upon
one spot, and, therefore, form straggling villages), several
Convents, one Bishop's see at Gardar, and on the west side
(Vesterboigd), ninety Bygde, and four or five churches. The
country was rich in pasture, oxen and sheep, and the inhabit-
ants paid a tribute in cheese and butter, which, on account of
the superior quality of these articles, at the time of Queen
Margaret, was delivered into the Royal buttery. On the
other band, the land produced but little corn, and most of the
inhabitants, as is said, in Kongs-Skugg-Sio (King's looking-
glass), did not know what bread was, and never sowed corn.
M
82
of the gulphs, which run far inland, there
are many places where numerous families
might find ample means of subsistence, as
well as the ancient inhabitants who have been
extinct for some centuries. Thus, for exam-
ple, on the Amaralikfjord, which extends five
or six miles inland, and then divides in
many branches, there are upon these branches
beautiful vallies, which contain considerable
remains of the habitations of the ancient in-
habitants. The reindeer, which are there
numerous, and the agreeable climate, entice
the Greenlanders thither in summer, and
they, as well as the Danes who have been
there, cannot sufficiently extol the beauty
of these vallies.
Even now, it is evident that many families
might subsist in several places of the dis-
trict of Julianeshaab, like the ancient pas-
toral inhabitants ; for the few cattle kept there,
thrive very well, though they are but ill at-
tended to. At least it must be as easy to
make use of the reindeer in Greenland, as in
Lapland, and this must be attended with
profit.
The east side of the country is not at
83
all known, for every attempt to land there
has failed 34 . That this coast is inhabited by
a race of men, the same as the Greenlanders
on the west coast, is beyond all doubt (for
the inhabitants come now and then to Nen-
nortalik, and even to Julianeshaab, to trade) j
and it is to be presumed that it is inhabited
beyond the polar ice, as it is affirmed that
one of these inhabitants said, that in his
country, in the summer time, the sun did
not set for many days together. But whether
this coast is inhabitable by Europeans,
or whether it ever has been inhabited by
them, cannot be decided, on account of the
total want of knowledge of its nature ; but
it is asserted that in two places there are
remains of ancient habitations. If this were
really the case, it would be much in favour
of the general opinion, which however has
been much contested in modern times, that
(34) It is said, indeed, that Admiral Godske Linden o\v,
who was sent by Christian IV to look for Greenland, suc-
ceeded in landing upon the east coast, in the year 16*05.
But if this landing on the east coast really took place, which
is not proved, no other consequence resulted from it, than
that some of the unfortunate inhabitants were dragged to
Copenhagen.
84
the Oesterboigd of the ancients lay upon
this coast.
This opinion has been disputed princi-
pally by H. P. Von Eggers, in his essay,
Om Gronlands Osterbygds sande Beliggenhed
(on the real Situation of the Osterbygd in
Greenland), in the collection of " det konge-
lige danske Landhuusholdnings Selskabs Skrif-
ter, 4Deel, 1794," and defended by Wormsk-
jold, in his essay, "Gammelt og Nyt om
Gronlands, Viinlands og nogle af Forfaedrene
kjendte Landes formeentlige Beliggende" (Old
and New Observations on the presumed Situ-
ation of Greenland, Weinland, and other
Countries known to our Ancestors), in the
writings of the Scandinavian Literary So-
ciety, 1814. Whether the opinion supported
by Eggers, that the Osterboigd of the anci-
ents was situated in the district of Julian-
eshaab ; or Wormskjold's opinion, that by Ves-
terboigd, in the more extensive sense, we are
to understand the now known west coast of
Greenland, and by Vesterboigd, in a more
limited sense, the district of Julianeshaab,
and that the Osterboigd is to be looked for
on the east coast of the country, but not
85 .
more to the south than 62, and not more
to the north than 65, is the best founded,
time must shew.
So much is certain, that the situation of
the east coast, on the map drawn by Torfceus,
which is looked upon by Geographers as cor-
rect, and has been generally copied, is in-
correct ; but he himself did not attach so
much value to his map as others have done.
In his note upon the back of this map (added
to his work, Gronlandia Antiqva) he says very
honestly, after touching upon the difference
between it and the maps of his predecessors :
" Consultissimum igitur duco reservare hsec
omnia futurae experiential, et neqve meam
neqve aliorum tabulas credere cum terra ipsa
ad amussim concord are 35 ." Under the 65 of
latitude this coast is placed from 4 to 6 lon-
gitude too far east : more to the north and
to the south, this coast may, perhaps, be laid
down more accurately.
Lieutenant Egede says, that in his voy-
ages, in the years 1786 and 1787, to attempt
(35) " I, therefore, consider it as the best way to leave
all this to future experience, and not to believe that my
map, or others, exactly agree with the situation of the coun-
try itself."
86
a landing 1 on the east coast of Greenland,
he found in latitude 64, and in longitude
from 40 to 41 west of Paris, ice, beyond
which he could not see from the mast head :
here, therefore, the coast 36 must fall away to
the west, and form a bay. In David DanelPs 31
voyages, it is stated, in a remark of the 6th
of June, 1652, that the coast in the 65 of
latitude extends east and west with Sneef-
jeldsjokel (a glacier near Sneefjeldsnces), and
that, on the 4th of June of the same year,
they saw the land at a distance of ten miles to
the north.
That part of the east coast of Greenland,
the situation of which is known with some
certainty, extends, according' to the map pub-
lished by Lieutenant Egede, in 1789, under
the 65 s and 66 of latitude, and 36 and 39
of longitude west from Paris, south-south-
west, and north-north-east, and, therefore, ap-
proaches Iceland under the 66. Now, as the
north-west coast of Iceland lies much more
west than the more southern parts of the
(36) That b to say, if this account may be depended upon.
He does not say when he was in this longitude and latitude.
(37) D. Danells or de Nelles went in the years 1052 and 53
to discover the Osterboigd.
37
country, this seems to indicate that the coast
of Greenland projects to the east, exactly
towards the north-west part of Iceland, and
forms a point ; which agTees at least with the
theory of nature (of which we may be con-
vinced by looking" at any good map re-
presenting coasts opposite each other), name-
ly, that where one coast projects consider-
ably, the opposite coast generally projects
also 38 .
In Iceland (as I have heard from my
friend Lieutenant Von Born, who has mea-
sured the north-west part of Iceland), they
estimate the distance of Greenland from that
part of Iceland, at between thirty and forty
miles. Dutch captains have also assured him,
that, in the channel between the two coun-
tries, they had seen at the same time the Sneef-
jeldsjokel and the Hvidserk, a very high
mountain, which, according to ancient ac-
counts, is situated on the Greenland coast.
From what has been said above of the pos-
(38) Lieutenant Egede also mentions in his voyage, that on
the 17th of May, 1787, a signal was made from the ship de-
tached by him, in about 65 16' north latitude, and 34 47'
longitude west from Paris, that they could see land about ten
miles to the north.
88
sible and probable projection of the Green-
land coast towards the north-west part of
Iceland, the above estimate of the distance
between both, seems not to be absurd -,
but as for the assertion of the captains, it
is to be conjectured that an illusion took
place, which, perhaps, was occasioned by the
ancient tradition that the two abovemen-
tioned mountains might be seen half way
between Greenland and Iceland.
If we place the Hvidserk according to
P. Egede's chart, under 67, the distance be-
tween that and Sneefjeldsjokel must be at least
seventy miles, and the middle of the channel
about thirty-five miles from each of the two
mountains, a distance at which it cannot be
supposed possible to see them from the sur-
face of the sea ; if, with Worm skj old, we sup-
pose that the Hvidserk may lie under 6b,
the distance from Sneefjeldsjokel will be still
greater, and the assertion of the captains still
more incredible. But that the Hvidserk can-
not well lie under the first mentioned la-
titude appears to be evident, from the fact,
that from the rocks within the bay, on the
north-west coast of Iceland, which rise into
and above the clouds, and from which you
89
may see above thirty miles into the coun-
try, neither the Greenland coast nor a moun-
tain upon it are to be seen, and from so
elevated a point of view, a mountain, which
was visible from the surface of the sea,
at the distance of thirty or thirty-five miles,
might surely be seen at the distance of fifty
miles, or more, as no object intervenes to im-
pede the prospect 39 . However, that Green-
land is not to be seen from these rocks, can-
not well lessen the probability of the con-
jecture, that it is not above forty miles dis-
tant, partly because these high rocks do not
lie in the extreme west coast of Iceland,
but many of them several miles farther to
the east ; partly because the convexity of the
earth is to be taken into account, in so con-
siderable a distance.
That the distance between Iceland and
Greenland is considerably less under the 66
than in a more southern latitude, may be
indeed taken for granted; but this smaller
(39) Born, though his eyesight is uncommonly keen, and
though he has frequently looked from the rocks of Iceland for
the purpose, was never able to descry the coasts of Greenland ;
but he sometimes saw the ice, which is collected before it, even
when the channel between Greenland and Iceland is free
from it.
N
90
distance will hardly afford the advantage which
our author seems to expect from it (Chap. III).
Every attempt to approach the land on this
side would probably be fruitless, as the ice,
in this narrower channel, which is frequently
blocked up by it, will be always more col-
lected, particularly on the coast of Greenland.
This was probably the case also in ancient
times, as the old sailing* directions, at least
as far as I have any knowledge of them, men-
tion no more northern passage than from
Sneefjeldnss. A passage in the King's Look-
ing-glass seems to refer to this ; it says that
the ice to the north-east, or north, lies more out
before the land than in the south and south-
west, and that, therefore, every one who seeks
to reach the coast, must not attempt to ap-
proach it till he has passed all this usual ice.
Besides, it might be difficult to find in the
north-west parts of Iceland, ports, which,
without some previous arrangement, would af-
ford secure winter retreat for the ships to be
sent out for this purpose. Any future attempt
to sail to the east coast, if it should ever be
undertaken, will probably be best made in a
more southern latitude, viz. as has been al-
ready said, according to Wormskjold's opinion,
i
between the sixty-second and sixty-fifth de-
grees, where this coast must be, on average,
much more than a hundred miles distant from
Iceland.
With respect to the map which I have
drawn, according" to the wish of my pub-
lisher, I find it necessary to make the following
remarks : The west coast of Greenland, as the
principal, is laid down according to P. Egede's
chart, the best that has yet been published.
In order to introduce some parts qf Iceland
and other points, I was obliged to draw the
meridians in other angles to the basis of the
chart, by which a larger piece of James Island
is introduced than in P. Egede's map. For
this I had no other model than a map of Ame-
rica, published this year (1817) by the Royal
Marine Chart Office, the scale of which is much
smaller than that of my map. This island is,
therefore, merely laid down according to its
situation ; but, as James Island is here of little
consequence, the imperfect drawing of it is of
no importance. The piece of the north-west
coast of Iceland is laid down according to a
plan communicated to me, made after the
latest admeasurements undertaken since 1815.
The grounds upon which I have laid down,
by approximation, the direction of the east
coast of the southernmost point of Greenland,
up to the latitude of Iceland, are contained in
what is said above on this subject ; but on the
direction of this coast above Iceland, I was
quite in the dark, in respect to the longitude.
Now, as the latitude of one point, and the di-
rection of the coast, were given (see Chap. I,
Note 1 ), I took the longitude (as near as may
be) according to the beforementioned map of
America. The whole direction of the east
coast, therefore (excepting the part laid down
with some certainty after Lieutenant Egede's
map), is merely conjectural, but probably
more accurate than on other maps. If I ex-
cept the names of the waters, my map contains
only those which are mentioned in what pre-
cedes, and even some of these are omitted,
because I did not find them in my model, and
do not exactly know their positions.
To the Danish original, is prefixed a Letter
from Dr. F. Plum, Bishop of Fuhnen, to the
Privy Counsellor, John Biilow, who has de-
frayed the expenses of the original. The fol-
lowing passages seem particularly interesting,
partly in a scientific point of view, and partly
-in other respects :
93
tf I confess," says the Bishop, " that the
interest which the book excited in me, was
heightened by the manner in which I became
acquainted with it. The author, a venerable
clergyman, seventy-one years of age, read me
some passages out of the manuscript, on a
journey to visit the churches of my diocese.
He read to me about the country where the
Egedes, his mother's father and brother, had
formerly performed such services, and where
he himself, as a new Apostle of Greenland, so
faithfully trod in their footsteps. He first
read to me the chapter of * The Avenger of
his Father,' a piece of which I may affirm,
that it would be received with universal admi-
ration, if I could boast of having discovered it
as a fragment of an ancient Apologist."
" In the year 1540, about which time the
author supposes that Bishop Amund (Aug-
mund, or Ogmund) may have made the voyage
in the neighbourhood of Greenland, of which
Torfoeus speaks, this Bishop had already been,
blind for some time, and had intended to lay
down his office (see Finni Johannaei Hist.
Eccles. Isl. torn. 2, p. 541). Torfoeus says,
expressly, that he resigned, in this year, the
bishop's see of Skalholt : the year of his voyage
94
must, therefore, be put farther back 48 . The
passage in Torfceus is as follows : ' Traditur,
qvod Episcopus Skalholtensis Augmundus, qvi
anno 1502 initiatus erat, sed 1540 officio se
abdicavit, aliqvando in reditu in Islandiam
tempestate in occidentalem oceanum ad Grbn-
landiam pulsus, cum aliqvantisper juxta littora
in aqvilonem navigasset, circiter vesperam pro-
montorium Herjolfsnesiam agnoverit, tamqve
prope terram vela fecerit, ut homines, oves et
agnos in septa compellentes, perspicue viderit ;
inde ferentem ventum nactus, postridie in sinu
Patreksfjordensi occidentalis Islandize navim
ad anchoras alligaverit, idque mane, cum
pecora mulgarentur, id est circiter horam
nonam antemeridianum, id quod minime con-
sistit, vix etiam si nonam vespertinam intel*
lexisset 41 " (Grbnlandia Antiqua, Hafn. 1706,
(40) Most likely about the year 1530, as I remember to
have read somewhere.
(41) It is related, that Bishop Augmund of Skalholt, who
was consecrated hi 1502, and laid down his office in 1540,
once returning from Iceland, was driven, by a storm in the
western ocean, towards Greenland; that, as he had sailed
some time along the coast to the north-east, towards evening
he perceived the cape of Herjolfsnxs ; and, as he sailed along
near the coast, he plainly saw sheep and lambs driven to the
fold ; and that the next day, having a good wind, he anchored
in the bay of Patreksfjord, on the west side of Iceland, and
m
p. 261). The idea of the discovery of the
Osterboigd, by extending" the southern colo^
nies up to and round Statenhook, to the eastern
part of the country, was not brought forward,
as far as is known, in the years 1786, 7, and 8,
when so much was written about Old Green-
land ; nor does Wormskjold mention it in his
Essay on the probable Situation of Greenland,
&c, by which the hope of again finding the
Osterboigd, which was destroyed, in the opi-
nion of many persons, by the well-known
Essay of Von Eggers, was again revived and
made probable, by a truly scientific investi-
gation 42 .
that early, when the people were milking the cows, i. e. about
nine o'clock in the morning. This, however, is not possible,
even if we would understand nine o'clock in the evening.
It is not known where the cape that was called Herjolfsnxs
lay. Wormskjold, with Danell, supposes its latitude to be
about 65. If, now, we assume its longitude in the direction
of the tract of coast marked in Lieut. Egede's Chart (it cannot
in any case be placed nearer to Iceland), the distance from
Patreksfjord, in a direct line, is seventy miles. The justice
of the remark with which Torfceus concludes the passage above
quoted, is, therefore, beyond all doubt. Fries.
(42) It might be advisable to examine, by a voyage under-
taken for the purpose, whether the plan of the author is prac-
ticable, before greater expenses were risked upou attempts, the
success of which is so uncertain. If the inhabitants of the
96
" Cranz will have Torngarsuk be looked
upon as a good being-. A man of learning,
acquainted with the country, is of the same
opinion, and has observed to me, that had not
this word been used in the very beginning to
signify the Devil, it might have done very
well as the name of God ; by which the adop-
tion of the Danish word Gud (God), in the
Greenland language, would be avoided. But
Hans Egede and Paul Egede relate things of
Torngarsuk, which can hardly be reconciled
with our ideas of God."
" At the conclusion of his letter, Dr. Plum
calls our Author's work a fine monument of
the golden times of the Mission in Greenland.
east coast can come down, in their leather boats, to Nennor-
talik, it must also be possible to sail up that coast in small
vessels; though it is to be conjectured, not as our author
supposes, that the current of all the bays on the east coast
flows towards the sea, but, in some, sets inwards up the coun-
try. That this is the case with one far to the north, indeed,
we know (see Chap. I, Note 1); and, according to the opinion,
that the sea on the east and west coasts is connected by the
Bearsouud and Sermeljarsok (which opinion is probable from
the south-west direction of the current of the sea on the east
coast), it must be the case in, at least, two places in that part
of the east coast which is here under consideration. Perhaps
Mr. Giseke has undertaken such a journey : the result of his
researches is not yet published.- Fries,
97
How well founded this opinion is, is evident
from what has been said before, chiefly after
Wolf's Essay on the present Obstacles to the
Mission. We must observe, that the Bishop
not only caused the publication of this Work,
but that we owe to his suggestions several ex-
planatory and very interesting* remarks of our
Author.' '
END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
JOURNAL IN GREENLAND.
Chap. I.
The Isefjord, in Disco Bay.
This remarkable gulph extends between the
tracts of land in which the colonies of Claushavn
and Jakobshavn are situated. It is from five
to six miles long, and from a quarter to half a
mile in breadth. It is said that, in former
times, it was free from iceberg's, and was navi-
gable ; nay, old Greenlanders even relate, after
a tradition of their forefathers, that at times
it was possible to navigate upon it to the east
side of the country, between the rows of moun-
tains which are now covered with eternal ice.
They even relate, that, in later times, a piece
of square timber was driven down, between
these mountains, from the east side, and that
it was used as a beam in a house. If this
were true, it would certainly prove that there
was formerly 'a passage through the gulph,
frons the east to the west side, which has since
99
been stopped up by icebergs 1 . The ridge of
mountains itself, which extends along the
country, and divides the east side from the
west, has been long since a boundless ocean of
(1) Volquard Boon, a whale-fisher, of the island of Fcebr,
gives the following account of a bay on the east side :
" From the 21st of June till the 31st of July, 176 1, he came
along the coast from 76 30' to 68 40', north latitude, at the
distance of from one and a half to six miles from the coast,
the direction of which he found by the compass to be north-
east and south-west. On the 27th of July, in the latitude of
70 40', he was carried, by a strong current, into a great bay,
the breadth of which he estimated to be fifteen miles, and the
direction of which was north-west by west. He could not
perceive the end of the bay ; for, though the air was clear,
no land was to be seen (i. e. beyond it) ; and he therefore
conjectured, especially as the stream flowed up the country,
that this bay, in which there was a pretty strong current and
a considerable quantity of ice, probably intersected the coun-
try entirely."
Wormskjold conjectures that this bay is that which the
ancients called Allum lengri Fjordz (the longest bay of all),
one of the most easterly, which was narrow before, but broader
farther from the mouth, along which they had built no habi-
tations, and the end of which was unknown to them. As the
stream in the Isefjord, on the west side, always flows out-
wards, there arises almost more than a conjecture, that this
and the abovementioned bay have a connection with each
other. See Wormskjold Gamm. og Nyt, on Gronl. Beligg.,
in the Memoirs of the Scandinavian Literary Society, vol. xiii,
p. 383-4. Fries.
100
ice, which, at a distance, seems to blend
with the clouds. The ice increases every
year ; but the large quantity of snow which
falls in the winter is melted by the sun in
summer, flows down in streams, and makes
dangerous opening's in the ice, in which the
Greenlanders, in pursuit of the reindeer, often
find their grave. When this ice projects over
the water, it breaks by its own weight, and
falls into the bay -, hence the terribly magni-
ficent mass of icebergs which I attempt to
describe.
When such a piece of ice falls, the noise
may be heard at the distance of many miles :
it rebounds several times before it recovers its
equilibrium, and frequently brings up pro-
digious stones with it from the bottom. The
whole bay is in commotion ; the water swells
and roars ; the mountains burst asunder, with
a loud crash, and tumble about in a terrible
manner, till they either obtain a firm footing,
or roll farther. The sea is covered, to the
distance of several miles, with drift ice, which
impedes the navigation. On such occasions, the
swelling of the water often lifts up the greater
part of the icebergs, and carries them, with
101
incredible rapidity, farther out into the bay,
or even into the open sea. Here they often
appear to us like ships, which approach the
land under full sail : we are deceived, and
deceived again, and yet, so great is the resem-
blance, we remain standing, with joyful ex-
pectation, till they change their course, and
shew themselves, on another side, in their true
shape. If a person who has never seen this
bay were to exert his imagination to the ut-
most, he would not be able to form a just idea
of it. Conceive a tract of so many miles in
extent, full of icebergs, so large that they reach
200 or 300 fathoms below the surface of the
sea. They look as if they would bid defiance
to time, and yet they are deceitful as water. In
sailing by, you see houses, castles, gates, win-
dows, chimnies, &c. It is a very agreeable illu-
sion, as long as we do not know how dangerous
it is to approach them ; but even when we know
this danger, we take pleasure in looking at
them. I saw, among other magnificent build-
ings, the great gate of the Palace of Christian-
burg, with its pillars and side doors ; and my
eye dwelt on the mezzanine story, which was
astonishingly resembling. As these masses of
ice, accordingly as they are formed of sweet or
102
salt water, are white, blue, or green 2 , this
difference of colours heightens the illusion,
particularly when it is assisted by the power-
ful beams of the sun. These masses of ice
have an attractive power, to which the stream
doubtless contributes in a great degree, so
that even large ships are in danger of being
driven against them, if they do not take
care, in time, to keep at a proper distance.
The Greenlanders are very familiar with them,
though many lose their lives by their con-
fidence ; but as the seals like to be near them,
the Greenlanders must follow them thither,
and seek food or death. The echo is so very
strong among the icebergs, that, not only
when you speak as you sail by them, you
hear your words plainly re-echoed from the
top ; but the latter, when it is rotten, as
they call it there, is so shaken by the sound,
that it falls down ; and woe then to him
who is near it ! The following accident
happened while I was in Greenland : A
(2) Our learned O. Fabricius denies the green colour : see
his essay on Drift Ice in the Northern Seas, in the new Col-
lection of the Writings of the Royal Danish Society of Sciences,
vol. 3, page 67 ; but Crana, in his History of Greenland,
page 35, agrees with roe.
women's boat passed from my side of the
bay to the other ; the people in the boat
exhorted each other, as usual, as they ap-
proached the icebergs, not to speak, and did
not suffer the oars to make any noise ; but a
young- lad wantonly struck with apiece of wood
on the skin stretched over the boat. The
sound was propagated in a few moments to
the top of a rotten iceberg ; the latter fell down,
and all the people in the boat, seven in num-
ber, were drowned 3 .
(3) A remark communicated to me, by a friend, which was
occasioned by the above account, makes the following expla-
nation necessary.
" In Greenland, and particularly in Disco Bay, where the
Isefjord lies, it is notorious, that every sound, whether of
speaking or other noise, under an iceberg, is quickly propa-
gated to its summit, from which it is returned with a loud echo.
It is equally notorious, that when such a mountain, either by
the effects of the sun, or by revolutions in the bay, has become
brittle, or, as they call it in that country, rotten, the summit
of it is broken off by the vibration of the sound, falls down,
and dashes to pieces whatever is under or near it. I have,
myself, frequently spoken under icebergs when they seemed
sound, and admired the uncommonly loud echo. I always es-
caped happily; and though 1 saw such tops of icebergs fall
down, I never saw them fall upon any body. But the case is
unhappily not so rare. Not only the abovementioned seven
persons perished in this manner, but single Greenlanders
also, who went there in pursuit of seals, and fired their
guns under these icebergs, without first examining whether
104
In this gulph, they catch, in winter, a kind
of turbots, which are indeed much smaller,
they seemed to be rotten : that the seven persons lost fheir
lives by the abovemeutioned sound, and the fall of the sum-
mit occasioned by it, was told us by a Greenlauder who had
accompanied the women's boat in his Kajak, and being in the
neighbourhood, though not quite close to the women's boat,
or under the iceberg itself, had been witness of the action of
the boy, and of the misfortune that ensued."
" When the Greenlanders travel in their women's boats, they
generally have one or two attendants in Kajaks, partly because
it does not become them as men to sit idle in a women's boat,
and still less to row the boat, which is the women's business,
and partly in order to catch a seal on the way, if an opportu-
nity should offer. Only the master of the family is in the boat
as steersman ; the rest are, as already said, in their Kajaks.
But if they make a voyage over the Isefjord, they have always
a Kajak with them, the proper business of which is to recon-
noitre the bays and the icebergs, to examine where there are
openings in these icebergs, that is shorter ways, and whether
these are so broad that they can venture to row through them.
It was in such an opening, or icy vault, that the abovemention-
ed women's boat perished, but solely by the imprudence com-
mitted ; for, according to the report of the Kajak rower, the
opening was broad enough to pass through. The pieces of ice
floating in the bay often cut holes in the women's boat : we aft
first stop them up with fat, and row on, but the holes may be-
come so numerous (I once had nine in my boat), that the water
pours in, and then it is necessary to go on shore to sew up
these holes. While this is doing, or when they go on shore
in the evening to put up tents, the boat is turned upside down,
yet not quite with the keel uppermost, but with one side a
little raised from the ground, and supported by a kind of props
or forks, the pointed end of which is fixed in the ground; aud
105
but more delicate, and much fatter, than the
common ones. The Greenlanders catch them
with lines, which they make of whalebone.
The fishing" place is always surrounded with
iceberg's, but sometimes the latter stand like
lofty buildings round a market place. There
a great many people assemble ; those who live
at a distance come to purchase, and the fisher-
men sell. It is quite a fair ! Every iceberg"
threatens them with death, and yet they are as
cheerful and secure as if no danger was near.
I once visited their market. The fishing place
was very large, the ice thick, and the number
of people assembled very great. They had
already been fishing above eight days in this
place, and the surrounding icebergs did not
seem rotten. I was delighted with their cheer-
fulness and activity, and at their trade. They
fished and caught in my presence, that I might
the fork supports the edge of the boat, in order that, while they
are sewing it, or by drying in the sun, it may not get out of
shape (which might easily happen, as the boat is quite wet from
the voyage) : three or four such props support the boat, and
they are as indispensible on a voyage in a women's boat, as
fat, needles, and thread, and a kind of pitch, to strengthen the
seams. It was with one of these props that the boy gave the
blow upon the boat which produced such unhappy conse-
quences.
106
see how they proceeded. Some lent me their
lines, with which I measured the depth, and
I found it in several places, as mentioned
above, from two to three hundred fathoms.
After staying about two hours, I left them,
because it grew late, and I had three quar-
ters of a mile to go home. Not half an
hour after I had left them, an iceberg near
the fish market fell down, broke the ice to
pieces, and deprived several fishermen of their
lines and fish. Some fell into the water,
were crushed between the pieces of ice, and
severely injured. The greatest part of them
escaped uninjured, although they departed
with empty hands. I should scarcely have
been saved had I been still there, because
every one had enough to do to save him-
self. Besides, we Europeans are not so skil-
ful as the Greenlanders in jumping from one
piece of ice to another, or, when we fall into
the water, in climbing up again.
It may easily be supposed, that such a
prodigious number of icebergs, by the cold
which proceeds from them, must make the
air near them much more raw, than it is,
even much farther to the north. I lived
half a mile from them: when a mountain
107
fell in ruins, I heard the noise like loud
peals of thunder ; I daily saw these icebergs,
and felt the effects of their neighbourhood.
When I returned home from Christianshaab,
which lies four miles more to the south, the
tears flowed from my eyes for cold, even at
Whitsuntide, when my back was in a per-
spiration.
Chap. II.
The Mission at Claushavn is extended.
When I came to Greenland, only my co-
lony of Claushavn was provided with a Cate-
chist. He was a Dane, and, perhaps, the
ablest in the whole country. In Christians-
haab, on the contrary, where, besides the
married Danes, who had many children, two
or three Greenland families lived, they made
shift with an old married Danish sailor, who
had lost an eye in his youth, in a drunken
affray, and had broken one thigh. It may
easily be supposed, that his instructions and
the fruits of them were nothing- extraordi-
nary 5 I, therefore, considered of means to
IOS
supply this want. As soon as my acquaint-
ance with the Greenlanders and their lan-
guage in some measure permitted it, I en-
deavoured to qualify a young Greenlander
to become a national Catechist, and allowed
him a certain salary. After he was employed,
things went on better, and, by practice, in-
struction, and encouragement, better and bet-
ter still. This successful attempt induced
me to instruct some more of the young
men of my place of abode, who seemed to
have the clearest heads, in order to place
them among the heathens, where the latter
dwelt , for when the heathens asked for in-
struction, though Claushavn was a thriving
place, yet they wished, in general, to re-
main at their usual abode, rather than remove
to the colony : to gratify their wishes in
this respect, was removing an obstacle, and
was in itself just and reasonable.
In this manner, I sent, some years after-
wards, a national Catechist to some families,
who settled a quarter of a mile to the north
of me. The Catechist, who was the son of
a deceased Dane of mixed race, was tolera-
bly clever, and could dedicate the greatest
part of his time to his office, because he
109
had not much success in fishing"; but it was
necessary, on this account, to give him a
larger salary, that he might not suffer want,
and from want become indifferent to his of-
fice. Two years after this, a family which
lived a quarter of a mile farther north, wanted
a teacher. I promised to fulfil their wish ,
but as I did not know whether I might de-
pend upon their perseverance, or on the parti-
cipation of several families in the instruction,
and, besides, the way was not farther, I pre-
vailed on the same Catechist to undertake the
instruction of this family also. In the morn-
ing, he instructed the first mentioned families ;
and in the evening the latter ; but I was
obliged to give him an addition to his salary,
in consideration of this increase of his labour.
Afterwards, more families applied ; and as long
as I was in Greenland, and could pay attention
to it, this method went on very well ; but
whether it continued after my departure, I
do not know, for almost a year elapsed before
my successor arrived. My neighbour Provost
Sverdrup had indeed promised me to do his
utmost, and punctually kept his word; but
his own Mission employed him so fully, that
he very seldom came to mine, and, when he did
110
come, he had not time enough to see after
every thing*. It is, therefore, possible that
this last arrangement, for want of being" at-
tended toy has ceased ; perhaps even before
my successor arrived. Happily I did not
baptize anybody, either here or at Tus-
sangme*.
I must add a few words about this island,
the real name of which is Tussak, which
lies six miles from Claushavn. In my pas-
toral journeys, I sometimes went there, and
that with the more pleasure,' because some
families lived there, among whom was a Poly-
gamist, who always liked to hear my con-
versation. These families once asked me for
a teacher : I had one in readiness, but, when
I proposed to him to go there, he felt no
inclination. He said the island was too far
off, &c; I was, therefore, obliged to ask
my national Catechist at Christianshaab, to
undertake it. He consented, and resided a
week alternately at each place, but on the con-
dition of receiving an addition to his salary.
I engaged these national Catechists on my
own account, and also paid them the first
(4) Cranberries CTyltebaer) grow here in abundance, and, a*
fur as 1 know, nowhere else in Disco Bay.
in
year myself. The Missionary College ap-
proved of my proposal, and also repaid me
the money I had laid out, as far as I ventured
to make it known j but this College was,
however, very sparing" with its salary, and not
inclined to give Danish provisions, especially
bread, which is so great an inducement to these
men to lead a sedentary life, so different from
that to which they are accustomed. If, there-
fore, I wished to have them do any thing, I
was obliged to give them what the College
refused.
Chap. III.
It is still possible to come to the East Side
of Greenland.
The Icelanders landed early, perhaps about
the year 982, on the east side of Greenland ;
and, finding the country agreeable, they after-
wards visited it, and settled there. In process
of time the population increased ; and, by
their diligence, not only procured subsistence,
but even had articles for exportation. Nu-
merous communities, churches, convents, and
112
bishops' sees, arose there. Even in the southern
part of the west side, there were many villages
and churches, of which some remains are still
shewn. The inhabitants tilled the land, and,
besides other kinds of grain, are said to have
raised the finest wheat. The pastures were
rich, and fed numbers of oxen and sheep, which
supplied milk, butter, and cheese, not only
in great abundance, but of such excellent
quality, that the royal kitchen, at Drontheira,
was supplied with them. There were forests
there, in which were hares and other game ;
and lakes well stocked with fish. It is, there-
fore, no wonder that this side of the country
became, in a few years, so populous as it is
stated to have been.
According to ancient accounts, the Ice-
lander, Erik the Red, or Redhead, was the first
who discovered the east side of Greenland,
and landed there. In an old Latin his-
tory book, which was lent to me in Green-
land for a short time, this Erik is said, pro-
perly, to have fled thither, because he had
killed his adversary in a duel ; but that he was
afterwards reconciled with the relations of the
deceased ; and, as he could now sail, unmo-
lested, backwards and forwards, he induced
113
many families to accompany him thither. The
following* anecdote, which I took from this
book, has its place here : Erik, probably he
who is beforementioned, arrived, with his wife,
who was pregnant, on the east coast. He
first built a hut, and supported himself and
his wife by the chase. He always returned
home in the evening-, as well out of tenderness
for his wife, as to prepare every thing for her
approaching- delivery, and for the winter,
which was at hand. One evening-, when he
came home, he found his wife dead, and a
new-born male infant crying- at her breast.
He stood for a few moments as if petrified.
The cries of the child roused him from his
stupor ; but irresolute, and almost in despair,
he knows not how he shall preserve its tender
life. Soon, however, he collected himself;
took a small sharp-pointed instrument, and
pricked his breast round the nipples, so as to
draw blood ; then he put the child to his
breast ; it sucked eagerly, and thus obtained
sustenance. He was now forced to remain, for
the most part, with the child ; and repeated
the operation as often as it required food. By
degrees, the blood became milky, and, at last,
real milk. In this manner he suckled his son,
114
of whom he became extremely fond, and who
grew up to be an active and courageous man,
as his father had been 3 . I regret that the title
page of this book was torn ofF. The book
had every appearance of high antiquity, and,
in my opinion, of historical credibility : it
contained many very interesting, and (to me at
least) unknown notices of Iceland, and, parti-
cularly, of the population and fertility of the
east side of Greenland.
It is uncertain by what particular cause the
navigation to this fine part of the country, and,
(5) The same anecdote is related of Thorgils Orrabeinst-
jupa, but with other circumstances. Cranz speaks (p. 331
and 322) of this Thorgils in the following words : " Fresh
colonies continued to arrive from Iceland and Norway, who
were, in part, Christians : among them was Thorgils, a new
but zealous Christian, who had gone to Greenland against
the repeated warnings of his former idol, and of whom they
relate a strange and wonderful history of many years' perse-
cutions by the Devil, and severe misfortunes by water and by
land ; after which, he at last, like Job and Tobias, obtained
honours and happiness." Setting aside that part which con-
forms with the inclination of the ancient inhabitants of ihe
north, like other nations, to believe in prognostics, and to re-
gard dreams, the contents of the Floamanna Saga are not so
strange and marvellous, but very credible. In the writings
of the Scandinavian Literary Society, vol. 7, there is a transla-
tion of this very interesting Saga, by Professor B. Thorlacius.
Fries.
115
at the same time, all connection between the
inhabitants and the mother country, ceased.
It cannot have been what is called the black
death, for the navigation continued long after
this plague. Troubles, arising from war, may
have interrupted it for some years ; but it
can scarcely be believed that it could have
been neglected in more peaceable times ; be-
cause it afforded important advantages, and
the inhabitants of the two countries were
united by the ties of friendship and affinity.
There is, indeed, a general tradition, that the
natives of the country, at that time called
Skroellinger 6 , fell upon the new inhabitants,
and extirpated them (so the descendants of
the former, namely, the Greenlanders, relate
the story) ; but to me this appears improbable.
The ancient Norwegians and Icelanders were
tall, stout, and warlike ; the Greenlanders, on
the other hand, were little, cowardly, or, at
least, not accustomed to combat. Neither could
they well expect a successful result even from a
surprise, because the population was so great ;
for, that they should have ventured on open
(6) A nickname, given to signify the small stature and
weakness of the Greenlanders, in comparison to the tall and
robust Norwegians and Icelanders. Skroelling still means, in
the Daniib, weak, puny. Fries.
116
war is what I cannot imagine. But, supposing
that they attacked, by surprise, and destroyed
the Europeans on the west coast of the coun-
try, where they were not numerous, yet those
on the east side must have been taught, by
the misfortune of their countrymen, to be on
their guard, particularly as they were not only
informed of it, but are even stated to have
come to their assistance : the history, indeed,
says, that they came too late, and found only
cattle running about the fields without a
master. In whatever manner this extirpation
was effected, it took place first on the west
and afterwards on the east side 7 . Only a few
(7) It is, however, probable, that the black death was the
first and principal cause of the neglecting of the intercourse
with Greenland, and of the extirpation of the Icelandic and
Norwegian settlers. This plague, which raged about the
year 1350, carried off about two-thirds of the population of
the north. One consequence was, that navigation in general,
and consequently that to Greenland also, was very much
diminished in the succeeding period. The greater part of the
inhabitants of Greenland were, doubtless, carried off by this
plague ; consequently, the articles for trade must have been
much diminished, and the trade itself wholly declined. Poli-
tical troubles contributed to check the little intercourse that
was still kept up. Meantime the savages who came to
Greenland, long after the Normans, advanced farther ; and it
could not be difficult for them to overpower the diminished
population, now left entirely to its own resources. Fries.
117
remains of the ancient Icelanders are said still
to exist on the east coast. The tradition has
been preserved from ancient to modern times ;
when some Greenlanders affirmed that they
had seen tall, bearded men, who were terrible,
and, doubtless, man-eaters ; others said they
had been so far to the east, that they had seen
the sun rise from the sea, and that they saw
people in the country. Torfceus relates, in
his Historia Gronlandica, that the Icelandic
bishop, Amund, in a voyage from Norway to
Iceland, was driven, by a storm, to the coast
of Greenland, and sailed along" the coast,
where he plainly distinguished people driving
their sheep and lambs on the meadows. This
voyage must have taken place about the year
1540, and the east coast must then have been
inhabited, though the intercourse with the
mother country was broken off. If we may
believe all this, we may conjecture that de-
scendants of those robust Icelanders and Nor-
wegians are still to be found there. But were
this not the case, the country, however, remains ;
and this must still be, what it was formerly, a
fine, fertile country, worth looking for, and,
if possible, settling in.
Many fruitless expeditions and voyages have
US
been undertaken with this view, from time
to time, under our king's, from Christian III
io Christian VII, under whose reign the last
attempt was made. Our present King-, then
Crown Prince, promoted this expedition, and,
as far as I know, bore the expense of it. Two
ships were fitted out, and wintered in Iceland.
Repeated attempts were made : they sailed
along the ice, as well to the south as to the
north ; were exposed to many dangers, once
even to total shipwreck ; but saw no possi-
bility of approaching- the coast, respecting-
which the particulars are contained in Egede's
Journal, 1789. However, this last account
of the voyage to East Greenland gives (as well
as more ancient accounts) hints of the possi-
bility of some time or other attaining- the
end proposed. The ice is terrible, but does
lie fast ; is not every year alike $ does not
come at the same time, or in the same quan-
tity -, it changes its position ; nay, it is pre-
tended it was once found to have wholly
vanished. May happy times one day re-
turn to our country ! Who would not then
be allowed to hope for another attempt to
re-discover East Greenland ? It would, indeed,
require considerable expense -, but if it sue-
119
ceeded, the advantage reaped by it would be
great : at least we should acquire the country,
which many would be glad to acquire, if an
opportunity offered.
The attempts, like some earlier ones, must
be undertaken from Iceland. Two small
copper-bottomed vessels must remain there,
not one, but two or three winters. From the
beginning of spring, and as long as the season
allowed, they must reconnoitre. They need
not, indeed, keep the sea all the time ; but,
as the passage from Iceland thither is said to
be but forty 8 miles, they might sail over to the
ice several times ; coast along it, northwards
and southwards ; and observe the situation of
it, and the changes that might have taken
place between one trip and another. Accounts
of this, as well as of the whole enterprize, must
be sent in, every autumn, by the trading
vessels. If this were continued, as I wish, for
three years, perhaps the object would be ob-
tained, and then all the expense and all the
dangers would be forgotten. But, even sup-
posing that we could not get thither, we should
(8) According to Lieutenant Egede's Chart, the least dis-
tance from Iceland is sixty-seven miles. For farther parti-
culars on this subject, see the Introduction. Fries.
120
obtain greater certainty respecting" the coming,
the situation, and the chang-es, &c. of the ice.
In short, we should obtain some degree of
certainty respecting the possibility, or the im-
possibility of getting to East Greenland on
this side.
But, even should these attempts be wholly
fruitless, we must not yet give up the coun-
try as lost. There remains still a possibility
left, which would, indeed, require time, but
would be less expensive, less dangerous, and
more promising. We had already, in my
time, colonies far to the south on the west side,
which we inhabited. If the Government would
make an arrangement, that, every second or
third year, a new colony should be established,
always some miles farther to the south, we
should, in time, reach Statenhook, then go
beyond it, and so in the same manner up the
east side. As the colonists advanced, they
must endeavour, by trade, if any opportunity
offered, and by their own industry, to make
good a part of the expenses of the undertak-
ing ; but the main object, that of examining
the nature of the country, and to obtain cer-
tain information respecting- its population, its
fertility, the ice, &c, must not be forgotten.
121
As the currents always flow outwards, and
partly keep the ice at some distance from the
shore, it would doubtless be possible to pro-
ceed, in small vessels, between the coast and
the ice, and for one colony to assist another,
where larger vessels cannot approach ; for it
can hardly be doubted but that supplies
might be annually sent from the mother
country to the most southerly of the eastern
colonies. This method of gradually approach-
ing the end in view would have this advan-
tage, that report would precede the new
comers, would so far make them known, and
prepare the inhabitants to receive them.
By one or other of the methods here pointed
out, I consider the re-discovery of the east
coast to be possible, without any great ex-
pense to the state. I am almost convinced
that it will be one day found, and that one
of these projects, or perhaps both united, will
lead to the accomplishment of this wish.
Happy the man for whom the decrees of
Providence have reserved this discovery 9 . The
(9) The late H. Egede, after his return from Greenland,
not only made similar proposals for the re-discovery of the
east coast, of which he speaks in his Natural History ; but
be even offered to go with the expedition, if it should be
B
122
land, and the possession of it, even without in-
habitants, would be a real addition and ad-
vantage to our country : with inhabitants,
perhaps more would be gained. Religion
would accompany us thither, and spread her
beneficent light, with purer splendor than it
formerly shone there. May this happen !
Chap. IV.
The Polygamist.
To take more wives than one at the same
time, is not indeed very common in Green-
land, but not absolutely uncommon. A man
who loves change, and is so skilful in fish-
ing, that he can support more than one,
sometimes takes two wives ; nay, a few miles
from my place of abode, there was a man
who had three. These women often agree
very well ; but if the reverse is the case, a black
undertaken, in order to convince himself, that nothing was neg-
lected that might tend to ensure success. But his proposal, and
his petition to the king, for what reason is not known, were
laid on one side. See Life of H. Egede, by J. J. Lund.
123
eye cures the one who is quarrelsome. The
first wife is always the most respected, and
properly the mistress of the family, if she
is not the most loved. If she has borne
her husband children, particularly sons, she
is sure of his continued respect ; but if she
is barren, she must behave with great pru-
dence towards him, and with good humour
to the other wives, not only to preserve her
precedence, but even to avoid being repu-
diated.
Among the inhabitants of Tussangme, there
was, as I have said, a Polygamist. This man,
who was the ablest of the whole, was always
very eager, when I came, to hear something
about our country. I fulfilled his wish, and en-
deavoured, as usual, to direct his thoughts to the
great Creator. "Kaf Kaf Pelesse 10 ! Usomakau!
i. e. Go on, Priest ! He is glorious, and worthy
of praise If exclaimed he. " Send us a teacher ;
we will be obedient, we will all be obedient."
" If I can be certain that you are serious,"
I replied, " I will with pleasure look out a
teacher for you, and visit you myself as often
as I can." " We are quite serious," said he.
(10) So the Greenlanders pronounce the Danish word
Proett (Priut). Fbies.
124
" When you have been here, we talk of
what you have told us ; we will acknowledge
the Great Being, who is so good." I did
not say a word on this occasion of his two
wives ; it would have been wholly misplaced,
and have destroyed his good intention. I per-
suaded, as I have before said, the national Ca-
techist at Christianshaab to divide his time,
and to go there every other week. I accom-
panied him the first time he went, presented
him to them as their teacher, and exhorted
them to be attentive to his instructions. They
promised it, and kept their word. Every time
that I came, I had reason to be satisfied with
their diligence and conduct, in which the Po-
lygamist encouraged them. I wrote on ac-
count of this man to the Missionary college,
and represented, that as it seemed as if the
apostles, when any had two wives before they
were converted to Christianity, had, in this
case, connived at it, I wished to have per-
mission to baptize him ; but I received for
answer, that this permission could not be grant-
ed, especially on account of the consequences.
One day, towards the end of the second
winter, he asked me, " You will baptize me,
Priest ?" " I would do it with pleasure," I
125
replied, " but you have two wives."
" What !" exclaimed he, hastily, " cannot I
then become a believer ?" " You know,"
said I, " that the great Lord in heaven cre-
only one man and one woman, to shew that
only two such should live together in wed-
lock. " " You grieve me, Priest." He cried,
and pointed to his second wife, " Can I reject
her ? she has borne me sons, and how can
I abandon these little ones ?" " You shall
continue," said I, " to provide for them
all, but abstain from conjugal intercourse with
your second wife." " That is difficult," an-
swered he. " Will the good God reject me,
because I cannot reject her ? You know that
I wish to become a believer. You know,
too, that I know him, and that I live like
a believer." " Yes," 1 answered, " I know
all this, and I wished to baptize you ; but,
besides what I have already said to you, my
masters in our country have forbidden me."
I unwillingly said this, and he heard it with
some displeasure. " Do you not think, Priest,"
continued he, " that the great Master of hea-
ven is more benevolent than those in your
country ?" " Certainly, he is," continued I :
"he is all goodness : he judges differently
126
from man, because he knows the heart better."
" I wish to be a believer, and I dare not !**
said he, affected : " but I will continue to obey
God, and to avoid evil ; and I hope that he
will not reject me when I die." I affirmed
this, took his hand, and looked at him,
with emotion. It was a short time before
I returned home. " God in heaven," said I,
" thy Father, and my Father, and the Father
of us all, be merciful to thee, for Jesus Christ's
sake, here and for ever !" " Be happy,
Priest," answered he, with tears : "before the
good God in heaven I shall see thee again !"
" Yes, there we shall meet again in happi-
ness," said I, and went away. He accom-
panied me in silence to the shore, and long
followed me with his eyes.
127
Chap. V.
Greenland Courtship.
Decorum requires that a girl must not choose
to marry, and that the parents must not give
their consent to the marriage of their daugh-
ters : but then, the young men carry off their
girls by force. Some friends accompany the
suitor into the house of the parents, and carry
off the girl, without ceremony, even in the
presence of the parents. Often she knows
nothing of her lover's attachment to her ; but
even if she does, she must make all possi-
ble resistance, which often goes so far, that
she suffers herself to be dragged along by
the hair ; nay, if she persists in not getting
up, and in refusing to go quiely, she receives
some hearty boxes on the ear. When she at
length arrives in the house of the lover, she sits
desponding with dishevelled hair, and seizes
the first opportunity to run away again. She
is fetched back, runs away again, and is again
fetched back If her repugnance is only feign-
128
ed, she laments, perhaps, for a day or two ;
but then she yields. If, on the other hand, she
dislikes the suitor, she continues to run away,
till he either ceases to go after her, or, if he is
desperately in love, really employs constraint.
In ancient time, the suitor, in such cases,
used to cut a few slits in the soles of the
feet of the obstinate girl, and was then pretty
certain that she would yield, before she was
able to walk again. At present, indeed, this
rough manner of obtaining a girl's affection is
no longer in use ; but I know, that, even in
my time, a suitor threatened his mistress, who
repeatedly ran away from him, with this
punishment for her obstinacy. If the girl
really dislikes the marriage, for some reason
or other, and if she cannot avoid it, in this
distress, she cuts off her long hair, and seeks a
retreat among the rocks : but by this, she
renounces marriage for the future; it must
not, therefore, be wondered at, that this step
is seldom resorted to. When the troublesome
days of courtship are over, and the girl has
become a wife, she takes the place of mistress
of the house on the bench, provides every
thing for her husband, and superintends the
129
household ; but if her husband's mother is still
living-, the latter manages the household, and
the wife is, so far, only a maid.
Such a violent kind of courtship cannot
be allowed among the baptized Greenlanders ;
they, therefore, leave the business to the Cler-
gyman, and the way of proceeding is gene-
rally as follows. The suitor comes to the Cler-
gyman, and says, " I have a mind to take a
wife." "Whom ?" He names her. " Have
you spoken with her ?" Sometimes the suitor
answers " Yes, she is not unwilling-; but you
know how people are." Often he answers,
No!" "Why not?" "That is so diffi-
cult ; the girls are so shy. Do you speak to
her." In this case, the Clergyman sends for
the girl ; she comes, and after some indifferent
questions, he begins his suit as follows. " It
will soon be time that you should marry."
" I will not marry." " That is a pity : I
have a suitor for you." " Whom ?" The
Clergyman names him. " He is good for
nothing; I will not have him." Then the
Clergyman enumerates all his good qualities :
" he is young, a good and successful fisher-
man, sits upright in his Kajak, throws his
dart with skill and strength, and, what is the
s
130
most important, he has a good disposition, and
loves you." She listens very attentively ; her
looks betray her approbation ; yet she still
answers, " I will not marry ; I will not have
him." " Well, I will not constrain you ; I
shall easily find a wife for this active young
fellow." The clergyman now says no more,
as if he considered her " No" as coming from
the heart. At last she says softly, with a sigh,
or with tears in her eyes, " As you will, Priest."
"Noj" as you will: I will not persuade
you any farther." Now comes a profound
sigh, " Yes;" and the affair is settled. Mean-
time, the suitor awaits his fate. He is sent
for, and made acquainted with his good
fortune ; but told, at the same time, how
difficult it was to prevail upon his bride.
The wedding-day is fixed, of which the girl
is already informed. When it arrives, the
bridegroom, in his finest clothes, appears with
his train, in the house of the clergyman. He
advances, with becoming seriousness, to the
altar ; the clergyman is obliged to take her by
the hand, and shew her the place where she
is to stand. She, indeed, takes her place, but
turns away from the bridegroom, that the
clergyman is often obliged to turn her a little,
131
so that, when he puts the questions from the
book, he can lay her hand in that of the
bridegroom. This giving her hand, and the
* yes,' which she must pronounce before all
the company, is the most difficult part to her.
Generally, she answers only with her eyes,
and this, reasonably, passes for a full and
sufficient f yes.' The young couple now go
to the house of the bridegroom ; he cheerful,
she, as it seems, unmoved and cold. Soon
after, the clergyman sends them a bushel of
peeled barley, or peas, and some stockfish, with
his compliments, desiring" them to entertain
themselves and their friends. Soon the kettles
are hung" over the lamps ; the g-uests are
called ; they chat together, and enjoy their
little repast with cheerfulness. The bride
sometimes suffers herself to be persuaded to
taste a little bit, but extremely seldom to lie
down, in the evening", in the nuptial bed.
However, she never runs away, as the heathen
brides do ; accustoms herself very well, in a few
days, to be a wife ; and her former talkative-
ness and cheerfulness return. If she, as a girl,
has observed all this, and the parents have not
shewn themselves inclined to consent to the
match, every one has done his part : she has
132
preserved her honour, and nothing can be said
to the disadvantage of the parents.
* * *
The Reader will observe, that the clergyman
takes a part in the marriage concerns of the
baptized Greenlanders, only to prevent the
before described manner of courtship, which is
so contrary to morality and Christian propriety.
He opposes this, without pretending to a right
to interfere farther. The suitor, indeed, gives
him the commission, the consequences of which
are, order and marriage. Long before my
time this was the custom in Disco Bay ; but
I will not affirm that it is the custom all over
the country.
133
Chap. V.
Tke Baptism of a Catechumen.
1 had once among my Catechumens, at
Christianshaab, an elderly widow, who had
fled from the southern part of the country,
because she was accused, by her neighbours
there, of being an llliseetsok (that is, a wicked
sorceress), and her life was, therefore, in dan-
ger. Some years before, the wicked wretch
who accused her, had been received by her in
her house , and she had given him the use of
her tent and women's boat, on the condition
that he should keep them both in order with
skins. For some time he punctually fulfilled
this condition j but afterwards he conceived a
wish to possess them himself. He was pretty
sure of obtaining this wish, if he accused her
of witchcraft : no sooner thought than done ;
the innocent, forlorn widow, who was in-
formed of it in time, was forced, in order to
save her life, to fly secretly with a sick child,
eight or nine years of age, and to abandon her
property. She found an asylum, for the
134
present, in the dwelling" of a married colonist,
near Christianshaab ; and as I came there soon
after, she applied to me to receive instruction :
she received it accordingly, and shewed both
good-will and capacity. Towards winter I
learned her unhappy condition; spoke with
her upon it ; and promised to protect her as
far as lay in my power. v
Time passed away, the summer approached,
and the baptism of the Catechumens was at
hand. After I had performed this solemnity
at home, at Claushavn, I went, the week
before Whitsuntide, to Christianshaab, in order
to go over, daily, the truths of religion with
those Catechumens whom, on account of their
knowledge and conduct, I thought worthy of
baptism. Among these Catechumens was the
widow of whom I have spoken. " Will you
baptize her ?" said the merchant, when I re-
turned from the last examination. I replied,
* Yes ; she has the necessary knowledge, and
expresses a desire for baptism." " I advise
you not to baptize her," continued he, " for
the Greenlanders who live farther to the south
intend to kill her ! It would really be very
bad if they began to kill baptized persons as
witches !" Should I then," replied I,
135
" expose her to the fury of her persecutors, or
rather deliver her up to it, by refusing her
baptism ? No ; that would be a sin. I will
baptize her with several others, and thereby
lay upon you and your people an obligation
more, to defend the life of an innocent per-
son, who is become your fellow Christian. "
" Neither I nor the people can take upon us
to defend her," said he ; "we are often absent :
her assassins (they lived about a mile from the
colony) may watch their opportunity ; and,
even if we were at home, we should not expose
ourselves to the fury of the Greenlanders, for
they have resolved upon her death." " Then
I will take her with me," replied I, M when I
return ; and, till then, she may surely be in*
safety here."
The morning came ; it was Whit-Monday.
Engaged in reading, I regarded nothing that
was passing ; till, at length, the cry of " The
murderers come! they land!" called my at-
tention. This visit was, at this moment, as
unexpected as it was disagreeable. I collected
myself, however, and remained faithful to my
purpose, as well to defend the innocent widow,
as to baptize her. Two of these men came im-
mediately to the colony, and asked for the
136
priest : they were shewn my room, and enter-
ed abruptly. After some indifferent discourse,
one of them, mentioning her name, said,
" Will you baptize her ?" " Yes," I replied.
" She is good for nothing 1 ," said he ; " she
is an Illiseetsok." " It is your Angekok,"
said I, " who accuses her ; but he is a liar.
I know that you intend to murder her, either
now or in the sequel ; but I take her under
my protection, because she has done no evil ;
and, when she has become a believer, the
Danes and the baptized Greenlanders shall
also defend her." They withdrew without
replying.
Meantime, the hour of divine service was
come, and I sent for the Greenlanders ; but,
at the same time, begged some sailors to ac-
company the poor widow, who was probably
afraid. The murderers, ten or twelve in num-
ber, stood on the place over which she had to
pass, but did not attempt to attack her, as
they saw that she was not without defenders.
She entered the room trembling. " Thou art
afraid," said I ; " but dost thou not believe,
then, that the great God whom thou acknow-
ledgest is more mighty than thy persecutors ?
Place thy trust in him, and be of good cou-
137
rage." After the sermon, she, as well as the
others, rehearsed her belief, and was bap-
tized. Copious tears betrayed her feelings ;
they were drawn from her by joy, fear, and
hope. When divine service was concluded,
I said to her, " Now you belong to God,
and to us. Thank him, and prove always,
by your conduct, that you are a believer."
Her persecutors were not yet gone ; I, there-
fore, shut her up in my room while the peo-
ple were attending divine service, and had
her guarded the rest of the day.
The following day, I departed to return
home ; my wife, who had accompanied me
on this journey, the widow, and,her daughter,
besides the steersman, and four women to
row, were on board. When we had got to
a considerable distance from the colony, we
perceived several Kajaks, but had not the
smallest idea of their being the murderers
of yesterday, till they got nearer. The widow
recognized them first, and exclaiming, " There
they are !" threw herself, with her face down-
wards, on the bottom of the boat. Her per-
secutors had heard that I would take her
with me, and had, therefore, gone northward,
my way, instead of southward, which was
T
138
their own way home. They rowed rapidly
towards us, threw their darts, to shew their
strength and dexterity in hitting- a mark, and,
at last, laid one arm on the edge of my boat.
Then, certainly, courage was necessary, and
it was given me. After some insignificant
questions, one of them said, " What woman
is that lying there ?" " She whom you want
to kill," replied I, with firmness ; " she is a
believer : I take her under my protection, and
I shall find means to protect her.'* They turned
pale, and were silent. At last, one of them
cried, " That is the same to us.'* They
then suddenly tacked about to the creek,
where their tents were set up. We were now so
far delivered, and the poor woman began
to breathe more freely. Whether it was the
eagerness of my women who rowed, to lose
sight as soon as possible of these infuriated
men, or whatever might be the cause, one
of the oars broke ; we could not go on well,
and we had nothing to repair the oar. We
had no means left, but to row into the bay,
to the widow's enemies. This was, indeed,
extremely hazardous, but, as it could not be
otherwise, I resolved upon it, confiding in
God, and my good cause. We rowed into the
139
creek, and, at last, landed in the midst of
these men, who were all assembled on the
shore. I took the broken oar in my hand,
went on shore, and said, " Who will repair
this oar ? I will pay him well." One of them
immediately took the oar, and began to repair
it. " Akakak n f" said some of them to each
other , " he is not afraid." They now invited
us to their tents (my wife had now come on
shore) ; but I could not accept the invitation,
for then, perhaps, it would have been all over
with the widow. I, however, conversed with
them, till the oar, after we had waited one
livelong" hour, was repaired. They were con-
tent with what I paid : we put from the shore,
parted as friends, and reached home in the
middle of the night. The widow was now
in safety. I placed her and her daughter with
a family, who had room to spare. She lived
two or three years without suffering want, and
died in peace.
(11) Exclamation of surprise.
140
Chap. VII.
Some Journies.
I. TO CHRIST1ANSHAAB.
I had to make so many journies thither,
and many of them so dang-erous, that I might
very easily fill some sheets with them. About
Christmas, I went there by land, and rolled
down several times from the summit of high
rocks to the foot of them 12 . I travelled on
ice which was so thin, that it could scarcely
bear the weight of four dog's. I travelled
by water, when storms were rising-, and often
when quantities of drift ice were floating- about,
which cut holes in my women's boat. But
three of these journies seem to me to be
peculiarly dangerous, and worth relating-.
I generally went to Christianshaab the day
before Easter, as well on account of the Danes,
who lived there, as to examine the Catechu-
mens. This time, the sea was open, though
full of floating- ice. Some sailors, who had
(12) This happened, when, after having with infinite pains
gained the top of the rock, I seated myself on the sledge to
descend, which, acquiring velocity from the steepness of the
descent, was hurried past the dogs.
141
been at Claushavn, on commercial business,
resolved to accompany me ; but when the
day for our departure came, they were afraid
of the ice, and remained behind. I set off
early with a steersman, six women to row, and
a Greenlander in his Kajak. With much diffi-
culty and labour, we rowed three miles
through the ice, by twelve o'clock. We were
saying, that the mile which we had still to
go, was not so dangerous, when the steers-
man suddenly exclaimed, " Look there, up
to the rock, Priest ! a dreadful storm is rising,
which will soon overtake us." I saw it, and
answered, " We can scarcely proceed, the
resistance is too great ; let us put back : we
shall find some place in the neighbourhood,
where we can stop till the storm is over."
We tacked about, but while we were doing so,
the storm was already come up, and would,
certainly, have overset our boat, had not the
Greenlander, with his Kajak, laid himself to
windward, and manoeuvred in so masterly a
manner against the mighty waves. He let
them pass over him, by which they lost some-
thing of their violence, before they reached
us. The boat, however, laboured violently,
by which some knees were broken, which
142
made it unsteady. There was not much ap-
pearance of our being* saved. The women
lost their courage, and would not work any
longer. " Row !" I cried, and took an oar,
"or we shall be drowned!" " We shall be
drowned notwithstanding," answered they: "it
avails nothing." I encouraged them by words
and by my own example, rowed with all my
might, and said, " We must do what we
can for our safety, and we shall be saved."
They now took up their oars again ; but
the storm continued, our boat became weaker
and weaker, and, in truth, our hopes also.
After we had laboured for about an hour,
with infinite exertions, and had been in the
utmost danger of our lives, kind Providence
conducted us into a little bay, where the land
protected us against the violence of the waves.
Here, we found ourselves saved, and thank-
ed God. It cost us some trouble, indeed, to
get the boat up over the crust of ice, but we
effected it. We turned it upside down, laid
ourselves under it upon the snow, and spoke
of the danger which we had escaped. The
Kajak rower was not a little proud of his ex-
ploit -j and he had reason to be so, for he con-
tributed the most to our deliverance. Some
143
refreshment would now have been welcome,
but this was not to be thought of. I had,
indeed, two of the biscuits, called Skonsogne,
which my wife had made me take when I left
home ; but what was that among so many ?
A part of the afternoon was already gone,
when the weather became more calm. " To-
morrow is Easter Sunday," said I to my
Greenlanders : " I must go forward by land,
or else back." " You joke, Priest," answered
my steersman, quickly. " No," answered I.
" I am quite serious." " You cannot go
forwards," said he ; " I have no knowledge of
any way. The rocks are terrible, and the
way back is so long, you cannot accomplish
it." "Let us see," said I ; "follow me!"
At last I prevailed on my steersman and two
women, and set out. As long as it was day-
light, we went on well, though the snow was
deep ; but when night came on, we were un-
able to distinguish rocks and vallies from each
other. We fell into heaps of snow, helped each
other up, fell again, and again got up, but
became more and more fatigued, and faint.
After we had proceeded for some hours,
my Greenlander said, " We have missed our
144
way ; I no longer hear the sea roar." I
listened, and was also unable to hear it. " We
must go westward," said I ; " the wind has
not changed." We did so, and, by extraor-
dinary exertion, came in about two hours
nearer to the strand, and soon after to a plain,
which was inclosed, on both sides, by high
rocks. I thought I recollected this plain,
walked up and down on the beach, and found
that I really recognised it, having been there
the preceding autumn. " We are in Sand-
bay," said I to my companions when I re-
turned to them, " and are now not far from
home." " It is a mile," said my Greenlander,
M if we go the right way ; but we should have
scarcely half a mile, if you could clamber up
that rock." " Wait a little," said I, and di-
vided my two biscuits among us four. We
eat them, drank or swallowed some snow, and
felt ourselves a litle refreshed. " Now, up the
rock !" I cried. " At the top it is perpendicu-
lar," replied my Greenlander ; "if your foot
slips, you fall into the sea, and no one can
save you." " We will try," said I ; and now
we began, with the little strength we had left,
to clamber up. We walked and crawled, but
145
still advanced, however, till we reached the
abovementioned steep place. " Now, tate
care, Priest ! don't slip I" ' Help me," said
my Greenlander, " and I will help you when
I have got up." He began to climb, and,
by the assistance of the women who helped
him, got up happily. " Wait a little," said
he ; " I must rest myself:" but soon after he
laid himself on his belly, stretched himself out
as far as possible over the steep rock, and said,
" Come ! I will take hold of you." One of
the women clambered up, I helped her, he
took her hand, and pulled her up. Now, it
was my turn. Both those who were up, and
she who was behind, exerted their strength
for me : I climbed , my knees tottered ; I was
near falling, and, consequently, perishing, when
I got hold of the out-stretched hand of the
Greenlander. By this, and the help of the
woman who was behind, I got up 1 , 3 safe.
" That was good ! that was good !" cried
my companions. " Yes," said I, " that was
good. God be praised. But now, help her
who is behind." That they did faithfully;
(13) The Greenlanders, accustomed from their youth to
climb up high rocks, have a great advantage.
U
146
both took her hand, and we were all saved,
but so exhausted, that we were obliged to sit
down, and rest, ten times during the quarter of
a mile which we had still to go.
At length, we reached the colony, on Eas-
er Sunday, at four o'clock in the morning, so
exhausted that I fell over the threshold of the
kitchen door, and my companions stumbled.
I knocked at the door of the chamber, and
pronounced my name : my wife was awake,
and lay praying to God for my safety ; for all
the Danes and Greenlanders at Claushavn
said, the day before, while the storm raged,
that it was impossible we should be saved if
we were at sea, but they hoped we might have
arrived at Claushavn, before it broke out.
While my wife got up, and opened the door,
I went to the chamber of my man servant, to
wake him, and to tell him to make a fire in the
kitchen. He had gone to sleep with the idea
that we were all drowned. When I awoke
him, and he, still half asleep, recognized my
voice, he thought it was my ghost, crossed
himself, and said, " God, be merciful to his
soul ! He was a good man !" "It is myself,'*
said I ; "we are saved." Now, he became
147
thoroughly awake, and thanked God from the
bottom of his soul 14 . Meantime, my wife
had opened the door of the room, and fell
upon my neck, with tears of joy. "God then
has restored him to me," was all that she
could pronounce. Yes ! we were restored to
each other. After she had become a little
calmer, we felt with grateful joy the miraculous
deliverance which God had vouchsafed me.
But now it was necessary to think of some
refreshments for me and my companions ;
and these were not so easily to be obtained.
The fast time had set in 15 ; every thing that
custom had rendered necessary, wine, brandy,
coffee, tea, sugar, &c, was wanting. My
wife, therefore, warmed a pot of good beer,
with a slice of bread, and some butter. In
the condition in which we were, this was, per-
haps, the best thing we could have had. We
ate Skonrogn with butter, drank warm beer,
and found ourselves refreshed/ My Green-
(14) He was a good honest Jutlander, and had kept a shop
in some town in Jutland. Having been unfortunate in husi-
ness, he was obliged to go to Greenland, and served me, for
several years, with fidelity, and uncommon zeal.
(15) That is, the time when the stock of provision was ex-
hausted, and the arrival of the ships anxiously expected. It
often lasted long, and was hard enough to bear.
146
landers went home quite cheerful. I threw
myself on the bed for a few hours, and per-
formed divine service at the usual time.
Though I had been ill before this journey, it
had no bad consequences, except a little pain.
At the news of my return, my good Green-
landers came early in the morning to my wife,
to inquire after me, and expressed their joy at
my safety. My boat, which the Kajak-rower
had patched up a little, arrived in the after-
noon much damaged. The people were well,
but excessively hungry : they had need of re-
freshment, and received it accordingly.
II. -^-ANOTHER JOURNEY TO CHRISTIANSHAAB.
About twenty or thirty paces from my
house there flowed a small stream, with excel-
lent water : it came from the mountains high
up the country , formed two fresh-water lakes ;
and afterwards emptied itself into the sea.
In winter it froze over i but in spring it broke
forth with violence from its sources. If care
had not been taken to dig channels to direct
its course, it took a wrong direction, and not
oniy overflowed the spot on which my house
stood, but even threatened the house itself.
149
This was particularly the case one spring.
On the 24th of May I was told that we might
expect the stream. My people had, indeed,
already done something- to guide its course,
but not enough. In the forenoon it had al-
ready spread over the place, and approached
the colony. I had resolved to set out, in the
afternoon, on business, to Christianshaab ; and
had, therefore, ordered the sledge to be ready
at two o'clock. The forenoon was employed
in instructing the young people j but, when it
was time for them to go home, the way was
intercepted ; the swollen stream was already
above the threshold of the house, and flowed
through my little garden. The children were
obliged to get over an out-house, by means of
a ladder, in order to reach home, and this was
scarcely possible. I wished to dine before I
set out : dinner was served up, and we ate ;
but as my wife was going into the kitchen,
and opened the door, it was torn out of her
hand, and the water rushed into the room.
We were at a loss what to do. There was
every appearance that the house might be
broken through ; and I was to depart. My
old Catechist had been already thrown down
by the water in the kitchen ; and with us in
150
the room all was afloat. My wife and my
son could not remain behind ; I should else
have been tormented by anxious suspense
respecting" their fate in my absence. At last
we set out a great table, put chairs upon it,
and endeavoured to save our beds by laying
them upon the chairs. We drew the drawers
from the wardrobes, and piled them up in the
same manner. We wanted now only a nap-
kin, with bread and butter, for a few days,
and we were ready. I prevailed upon the
Catechist to accompany us ; and now we
escaped out of the kitchen window, which
went out on one side, where the water was not
so deep, because the ground was higher. But
now we had to walk a pretty considerable
distance over the ice 16 ; my wife in order to
take up her abode in a Greenland house, and
I to get to my sledge. But the ice was ex-
tremely brittle, hardly any thing but foam,
and still more dangerous on account of the
stream, which rushed furiously along ; and yet
we had to go over this very place ! Resolved
to share the same fate, we took our little son,
(16) The overflowed stream rushed furiously between my
house and the Greenlanders. The ice was the only way by
which we could reach them.
151
two years old, between us : the Catechist ac-
companied us, and we reached, almost without
hoping" it, our destination for the present. My
wife had never yet passed a night in a Green-
lander's house, and could not prevail upon
herself to sleep upon the bench, among all the
naked people. With her back against the
wall, and her little boy upon her lap, she
held it out for three nights and three days.
On the fourth day the stream had returned into
its own bed : it was still rapid and furious, but
not so broad but that she could attempt to
pass it, supported by two Greenlanders, upon
a board laid across ; and she got home safe.
I will say nothing- of the destruction in our
house and around it. My wife did every
thing to put it, in some measure, in an habit-
able state before my return.
As soon as I had placed her in security, in a
Greenlander's house, on the beforementioned
24th of May, I set out upon my journey. The
ice was very brittle ; not like that upon which
we are used to venture at the beginning" of
winter, but like that which the stream and sun
daily undermine and melt away. After we
had proceeded two miles, we met with an
opening so long that we could not go round
152
it, and so broad that we could not get over,
except by a successful jump. My Greenlander
said, " We shall not get over unless we take
a run before we leap ; and then it is a question
whether the ice on the other side is strong-
enough to bear us." We had each of us a
tuk 17 . My companion took a run, with his
pole in his hand, and got happily over. I
also took a run, aimed at the same spot as he,
to obtain firm footing, and reached it ; but by
his weight the ice had already so far burst,
that, when mine was added to it, it broke
under me, and I fell up to the arms in the
cleft. In this situation I should certainly have
got under the ice, and have been irrecoverably
lost, had not my pole, which as I fell came
across the cleft, supported me. I had sunk
too deep to be able to help myself up ; and
my Greenlander did not like to take hold of
me, as the circumstances required. " How
shall I help you up, Priest ?" said he. M Dare
I take you by the hair and one arm ; for you
must not let go of the pole ?" M Take hold
of me where you think best," answered I ;
*' but as soon as possible, for I grow every
(17) A pole about six feet long, with an iron at the end,
which is carried to examine the ice with.
153
moment heavier.' ' Now he quickly took me
by the hair and the left arm , but it was ne-
cessary for him to be very cautious, that the
ice might not break while he was helping me,
and thus both of us perish. He pulled me up
so far that I could help myself: I, of course,
did this more and more in proportion as I was
able, and, at last, got out happily, but was
wet through. In this condition, I had still
two miles to travel 18 . The wind blew cold
from the north, and I was, indeed, not warm.
However, we got to the end of our journey.
On my arrival at Christianshaab, I immedi-
ately changed my clothes and linen. The
merchant then regaled me with coffee, a
good repast, and afterwards with excellent
punch, which warmed me thoroughly. I slept
well, got up in good health and spirits, and
thanked God. When the business which oc-
casioned my journey was finished, I returned
home by water. My simple dwelling looked
miserably, and yet it had been repaired as far
as the time had allowed. My little garden
(IS) When the Greenlaoder had helped me out, he called
the dogs to him, and they swam over with the sledge.
154
was entirely ruined. My wife and son were
in good health, and my Greenlanders were
well ; every thing, therefore, was well.
III. A JOURNEY TO JACOBSHAVN.
I was indisposed, and resolved to go in the
Christmas holidays to Jacobshavn, to get my-
self blooded by the merchant there : he was
the only person, for some miles round, who
could perform this operation ; but the season
was unfavourable ; the 20th of December ,
there was no daylight ; so near the equinox ; the
sea was stormy ; the ice unsafe ; and the ice-
bergs, which were raised from the bottom by
the high sea, extremely deceitful. However,
I set out; necessity commanded ; and a Green-
lander had told me, the day before, that it
was possible to go over the ice in the Isef-
jord. Our party was in two sledges. We
travelled half a mile by land, without any
accident ; but when we had got some part of
the way over the bay, the ice grew so thin, that
we were obliged to take all the dogs except
four from the sledges : we should not have
155
been able to do even this, any more than to
turn, had not a piece of old ice given us an
opportunity to halt and unharness the dogs.
We now continued our journey. At the dis-
tance of a musket shot to our left there was
open sea, and on our right some Greenlanders
were sitting at the foot of the neighbouring ice-
bergs, to shoot seals. Far up the bay, icebergs
were falling together with a dreadful crash. At
last, after many dangers, we reached the op-
posite coast. The way to the colony passed
over a pretty high rock ; we ascended it ;
looked back ; and on the spot over which we
had just driven in our sledges, there was no ice
now to be seen ! We thanked God for our
escape, drove on, and reached the colony about
eight o'clock in the evening, just as the mer-
chant and the clergyman had sat down to
supper.
They had, indeed, heard the barking of
strange dogs , but they could not possibly
imagine that an European had ventured over
the bay at this season, and did not mind it.
I entered ; and, as I perceived that I was not
recognized, I seated myself on a bench near
the door. The conversation was respecting
me. The merchant turned to me, whom he
156
took for a Greenlander, and asked me, with
kindness, whether I had heard any thing to-
day of the clergyman at Claushavn ? " I have
seen him to-day." " Seen him !** he ex-
claimed ; " you lie !" " No !" said I, and
stepped forwards. My arrival, at this time,
astonished them ; but, at the same time, they
were happy to see me alive. Now they made
me relate the circumstances of my journey over
and over again. " My business," said I,
" among other things, is to ask you to bleed
me to-morrow." " Very willingly," said he,
" if necessity requires it ; but it is the equinox,
and this season is not considered favourable."
The day came and went, without my resolving
on any thing : the next day came ; but whe-
ther it was the change of place, company, or
conversation, or whatever it might be, my
spirits were more cheerful, my blood cooler,
and, as I was advised, I deferred, to another
time, the bleeding for which I had come with
such imminent danger.
Now I was to return home again, as the
holidays were at hand. But how ? No Dane
would venture, at this season, to go in a vessel
out of the Isefjord (only the Greenlander in
his Kajak ventures upon it) j and in the bay
157
itself, and between the rocks, it was extremely
dangerous, though it was said, that, half a mile
above the place where I had passed, it was
still possible to get over the ice. I resolved,
however, to return home, though my friends
dissuaded me, and my good wife wrote to me
by a Kajak, that the old Catechist would
attend to the divine service for the Green-
landers, and would read to the two Danes
there, a printed sermon ; so that nothing should
be neglected, and that I should, by all means,
remain where I was.
On the 23d of December, in the morning,
I set out on my return : my friends accom-
panied me for some time ; but, when the road
began to be difficult, we took leave of each
other, as their accompanying me any farther
would only have detained me. After great
exertions, and many dangers, we came to an
iceberg, which, except for the space of two
fathoms, was surrounded with open water.
We could not pass over this water, nor was
there any possibility of passing any where else ;
we were, therefore, obliged to resolve on
climbing over the iceberg, which was not high,
and seemed to be sound. A hazardous under-
taking! However, we got over the iceberg
158
happily -, called our dogs, which swam over
to us ; and, at last, reached our shore. But
the ice was every where broken ; we could
not land ; and there was every appearance of
our being- obliged to remain where we were.
For some hours we drove and walked back-
wards and forwards, till, at last, we found, in a
little creek, a narrow slip of ice fast to the land,
over which we hastened, and got on shore.
But my Greenlanders had never been so far up
the country : they knew neither rocks nor val-
lies ; all they knew was, that we must travel
towards the south-west, in order, if possible, to
reach home. The evening was at hand, and,
with that, the darkness. We did not know
how long the way was which we had still
before us. However, we had escaped the dan-
ger of the bay, and drove on full of hope ;
but, after we had travelled about an hour, one
of our sledges, in descending a rock, struck
against a large stone : the thong that fastened
the dogs to the pole broke ; and the dogs ran
away, finding themselves free. This impeded
our progress, for we were obliged to give the
Greenlander a place in our sledge, and allow
him to fasten his behind ours. The dogs
reached home long before us, and were, as
159
usual, received by the other dog's in the place
with noise and barking. This made the Green-
landers come out of their houses ; and, as they
knew the dogs were still wet, and their coats
full of icicles, it was generally believed that
we had perished. In anxious expectation, and
almost without hope, my wife and the others
went about ; when the dog's of the colony again
began to bark, and thus announced our arrival.
The joy of my wife was not to be described.
The sudden transition from grief to joy had
such an effect on my old Catechist, whose son
was my driver, that his scurvy seized him, and
held him so fast to the earth, that he could not
stir from the spot : I went up to him, and
saluted him. To shew him that we were not so
fatigued as to be unable to be cheerful, I said,
"Are we not active people?" "Yes," said
he, " so active, that you will one day perish,
to the sorrow of us all."
160
Chap. VIII.
Some Particulars of our Trade with the Green-
landers.
+*+*-+*++
The navigation to Greenland, as well as the
trade with the inhabitants, was carried on,
some years ago, for the account of the king,
who, probably, seldom gained by any trade ;
but, in general, it has been carried on by a
company under the direction of a board 19 . The
uninitiated could only guess at the profits,
which, in the manner that the trade was ma-
naged, must have been considerable. A cer-
tain price or tariff was feed for the goods
which were sent thither, and, at the same time,
it was fixed what payment the Greenlanders
should receive for the articles which they dis-
posed of. The goods sent there, consisted,
among other things, of kerseys, Silesian linen,
cottons, silk handkerchiefs, ribands, beads,
scraping-knives, and other knives, harpoon
(19) This, however, is after the reports of others. I can-
not affirm it as certain, and it must be indifferent to the reader
who carried it on.
161
irons, kettles, powder, lead, tobacco, and fire-
arms. The Greenlanders sold blubber, seals
skins, foxes skins, sometimes bears skins, whale-
bone, unicorns horns 20 , eider down, &c. I do
not know what the abovementioned Danish
goods cost ; but, in my time, the tariff for us
Europeans was as follows :
Marcs. Schil. Groschen. Pfennig.
1 Ell of kersey 81 .... 2 10 or 10 6
1 Pound of powder 2 or 8
1 Pound of lead.... 10 or 2 6
1 Scraping-knife... 1 8 or 6
1 Harpoon iron 1 Q 8 ^ g Q
without barbs )
1 Do. with barbs... 12 or 3
The Greenlanders, on the other hand, had to
pay, for an ell of kersey, a pound of powder,
six harpoon irons, two scraping" knives, &c. a
tub of blubber. The tub called a bulge was
the measure in which the merchant received
the blubber, and it should contain a barrel.
(20) Unicorn (Eenhjorning, Narhval) is a fish which is from
sixteen to twenty-two feet in length, and has a long tooth pro-
jecting from the left side of the upper jaw. This tooth is what
is called unicorn's horn. Fries.
(21) The prices in marcs and schillings are probably in pa-
per currency, and the groschen silver currency. Trans.
Y
162
A barrel of blubber, when boiled in Copen-
hagen, might yield about three quarters of a
barrel of train oil. When we know that a tub
or barrel of blubber was paid for with no more
than the value of a rixdollar, that the Danish
goods were sold to the Greenlanders at an
advanced price, as we have seen above, and
also that the barrel of train oil was worth, in
those years, from sixteen to eighteen rixdollars
(and, therefore, three quarters of a barrel from
twelve to thirteen and a half rixdollars), we
see, not only what these necessaries cost the
Greenlanders, but also what advantages the
company derived from them. But of all the
goods, none cost them dearer than a rifle gun,
which was so indispensable for them, in Disco
Bay, where the ice lies fast for many months,
and the seals must be shot. I am not certain,
but I was told, that each rifle cost the com-
pany six or seven rixdollars : and the Green-
landers were obliged to give ten rixdollars, or
ten barrels of blubber, which, according to the
calculation above, was a great expense for
them, and a great advantage to the company.
This expense, however, they could bear : nor
was the profit unreasonable when we consider
the expenses of fitting out the ships, provisi-
lta
oning the colonies, and then the payment of
the numerous persons employed in Copenhagen
and in Greenland ; to say nothing of the risk
of trade in such a dangerous sea : but the
Greenlanders paid a great deal more for their
goods, and this more was too much.
I will explain my meaning more clearly.
They gave, for example, not ten tubs of blub-
ber for a rifle gun", but even fifteen, and
the tub did not contain one barrel only, but
one barrel and a half, and was, besides, with-
out a bottom. When they were to measure,
the workmen very cunningly contrived to put
the tub over a hole, which was to be filled
before the blubber reached the bottom of the
tub, and, after that, the tub was filled. The
Greenlanders knew, indeed, that this was not
as it should be. Some were silent, others
laughed and said, " Well, it will be full at
last," and all remained on the same footing.
I do not exaggerate, but affirm that the Green-
landers, in my time, paid for their guns in
this manner. Two or three years passed
before they could save so much. They seldom
(22) The rifle gun was the most important necessary. They
had to pay, in the same proportion, for other necessaries ; but
I cannot exactly say what they gave for a kettle, for instance.
164
received the gun till they had delivered the
half, and when they did, there was often a
crack in the barrel, or the lock was damaged,
and these faults required new expenses before
it was serviceable. In short, they gave an
immense price for a gun, which was often very
indifferent, and this price is often obtained
with difficulty, and at the risk of their lives.
The company received only ten barrels : the
merchants kept the rest without any scruple
for themselves" ; and yet these were not real
merchants, but only commercial agents. They
risked nothing in the trade. If they only
gave an account of the goods sent over
to them, and of the quantity of blubber,
whalebone, &c., which they purchased for
them, and provided themselves with a certi-
ficate from the captain, for the goods which
they sent home, they were exempt from all
loss, even should the ship perish ; they ought,
therefore, to have been contented with a small-
er profit. It was absolutely necessary to allow
(23) The Greenlanders receive, as I have said, according to
the company's tariff, only one rixdollar for a barrel of blubber,
and, after the merchants' tariff, one rixdollar for one tub or
barrel ; but I do not know what payment was given them for
whalebone, skins, unicorns horns, and other goods.
165
them some profit ; for example, so much per
cent on the quantity of blubber which they
sent home, or premiums when they sent a cer-
tain quantity, &c. ; for most of them know no
other blessing" than profit ; and, without hope
of obtaining- this, none of these commercial
agents would remain in Greenland, and the
trade would stand still. I must be very much
mistaken if the company does not gain upon
the goods which it receives according" to the
appointed tariff ; but how much more would it
gain, would the mother country and the poor
Greenlanders gain, if the appointed tariff, both
for the Greenland and Danish g*oods, were fol-
lowed, and the whole quantity of blubber
obtained from the colonies turned to the
advantage of the legal trade ?
The merchants were very mysterious, even
respecting the goods which they sent home to
the company ; but I know, however, that
from the two places where I was Minister,
there were shipped, for its account, from one
hundred and thirty to two hundred barrels of
blubber 2 *; nay, one year certainly, three
(24) The blubber sent home was calculated according to
casks, each containing two barrels; the quantity, reckoning
that from Jakobsbavn, was, perhaps, three hundred barrels,
and above.
166
hundred barrels, besides other goods, such as
whalebone, skins, &c.
If the Minister, as the representative of the
Greenlanders, particularly of those who were
baptized, spoke or wrote to the merchant on
the injustice of such proceeding's, the peace
between them was broken, and many unplea-
sant consequences ensued : if he sent such ac-
counts home, he was a quarrelsome man, a
man who meddled in things which did not
concern him, and effected nothing. The
directors of the company trusted their servants,
and the missionary college was so convinced
of their honesty, that, before we departed, it
enjoined us, among other duties, to live upon
good terms with the merchants. The favour,
which we might expect at our return, in some
measure, depended upon it.
My merchant and I always observed outside
appearances, and God knows that I had no
desire to injure him. At times, indeed, I was
obliged to write to him, but without bitter-
ness ; and, in our conversations, all such things
seemed to be forgotten. At my departure,
he wept, and wished fervently that I could and
would remain ; and, after my return to my
own country, the missionary college gave me
167
a complaint, made by him, to answer. It
stated, that I had carried on an illicit trade 85
with the Greenlanders. I was convinced that,
as an honest man, I ought to contribute my
part to set bounds to irregularities, by which
so many people were injured, when an oppor-
tunity presented itself ; and I obtained it in
the following manner.
I gave a hint of some of the things which I
have mentioned above. I received for answer,
" Be so good as to give it in writing." I
wrote, but at the same time desired not to be
considered as an informer. I wished to see
nobody called to account ; I only wished that
it might be made impossible for those con-
cerned, to act towards the Greenlanders as they
had hitherto done. For this purpose, I pro-
posed that legal tubs or barrels should be sent
to Greenland, which should have a bottom,
but hold a barrel and a quarter, because the
merchants, without this excess, would be suf-
ferers ; also that the Greenlanders should be
publicly informed that they should not suffer
their blubber to be measured with any barrels
(25) At the place where I lived, I could not make any
legal advantages, and I never allowed myself to make illegal
ones.
168
beside these, &c. I have reason to believe,
that my proposal was partly followed, parti-
cularly as the king sent to Greenland, in the
following- year, two civil officers, called In-
spectors, whose office something resembled
that of the bailiffs here in Denmark. It was
an important duty for them, to watch over
the conduct of the merchants, and to take care
that the Greenlanders were not cheated. I
hardly need to observe, that I have spoken
here of the trade, only as it was carried on in
my time, and particularly in Disco Bay.
Chap. IX.
The Wedding,
I have said above that the Minister must
interfere in marriage concerns, and also given
the reasons for it. There would be, therefore,
nothing more to say on the subject, had not
the wedding, of which I am going to give an
account, been very remarkable, and very near
costing me dear.
The son of the Catechist, of mixed race, a
169
handsome, well made, and active Greenlander,
had fallen in love with the handsomest girl in
the colony. She was sensible, modest, and
domestic ; so that his father had no objection
to his attachment. The parents who, indeed,
perceived his inclination to the girl, allowed
him to frequent their house, and thus gave him
an opportunity to see and speak to his mis-
tress. Some years passed in this manner ; but
the constraint to which they were subject in
these visits, was, at last, importunate to the
lovers, as their passion increased. They
sought and met each other in other places,
and had frequent secret interviews 86 . The
Greenlanders began to speak doubtfully con-
cerning them. As soon as I perceived this, I
told his father what I had heard, and proposed
to him to let the young people marry. " Very
willingly," said he ; "I desire their union,
the sooner the better." I sent for the father
of the girl, and, after a short preface, said,
" You know that Peter loves your daughter
Louisa : you can have nothing against their
marrying, as he is able to provide for a wife,
(26) This girl did not scruple to acknowledge her attach-
ment to her lover. She was the first, and the only one, who
did so, in my time.
Z
170
and is a worthy young man." " I want
her services myself," said he. " She cannot al-
ways serve you," said I ; " you have certainly
heard what people say ; and, as her father
cannot allow her reputation to be hurt "
" The people lie," said he ; ff she shall not
have him." " You say that," continued I,
" merely to follow the old custom. In our
country, parents rejoice to see their daughters
well married before they die, but it is your
way always to affect opposition. If you die,
who shall take care of your daughter, who
may, by that time, have become an old
maid ?" " It is all the same," said he, in a
tone of displeasure, and rose to go away ; " she
shall not have him." " She shall have him,"
said I ; "I dare not allow young people to
live a disorderly life." He was silent, and
withdrew. The Catechist, who was so well
acquainted with the way of thinking of the
Greenlanders, was of opinion that the opposi-
tion was of the usual kind, and was of no con-
sequence. I appointed the day for the wed-
ding ; fpr the Minister always fixes the day,
and acquaints the parties concerned. I wished
to do as much honour to the festival as possi-
ble, in order to shew the father of the bride-
171
groom how much I valued him as a teacher.
I therefore invited the young couple and their
parents to dine with us on the wedding-day,
ordered the flag to be hoisted, &c.
The day and hour came ; the bridegroom
appeared with his train , but the bride did not
come. I sent a messenger for her ; but the
messenger came back, and said the father was
angry, and would not let the girl go. I was
dressed to perform the ceremony : my wife
said, therefore, " I will go and fetch her 5"
and went ; but she, too, came back without
the bride, and said that the father watched
her as a miser did his treasure. What was
now to be done ? The resistance was unusual ;
for the parents always let their daughters go,
even though they appear to be displeased 27 .
The dignity of my office would have suffered
by yielding, which, in this case, would have
been weakness 28 ; I, therefore, put on my pe-
(27) That is, those parents that are baptized : among the
heathens it is different, as has been remarked before.
(28) I must here observe, that some Greenlanders told me
the young people had began too familiar an intercourse ; and,
at the same time, begged me to prevent, in time, further
offence being caused, &c. This was a duty the more incuni-
bent on me, as teacher of religion and morals, as the Green-
landers themselves, even the heathens, consider temperance in
172
lisse, and went myself to fetch the girl. " Do
not go there, good Priest !" said a woman to
me as I went along : " he is malicious."
" You know," said I, " that I desire only
what is right, and he must obey me." " We
shall see," said she, as I went on. When I
entered the house, I saw him sitting on the
side bench, next his daughter (she sat, un-
dressed, on -the right-hand bench) ; and be-
sides them some women. " Why do you
make so much resistance ?" said I. " You
know why your daughter must now marry :
let her go." " You may take her," answered
he, violently, " and make her your concu-
youth as a virtue, and blame an opposite conduct (see Hans
Egede's Natural History, 8. 79). I was convinced of the truth
of this information, and therefore endeavoured to persuade
the father to consent. I could easily guess at the objection he
would make, for that was usual ; but not that he would carry
his opposition to extremities; nor could I presume that the
consequences would be such as ensued. In my own country,
my way of proceeding would have been improper; and, if it
could have occurred there, would have justly merited censure ;
but my situation in Greenland, the peculiar relation in which
I stood towards my baptized Greenlanders, who, in my time,
had the confidence in the Minister, and the Minister alone,
that he desires only what is right, and, therefore, hold them-
selves bound to oblige him ; nay, even the way of thinking of
the people, or their opinion of immorality, will doubtless
justify it.
173
bine ; but he shall not have her." " Now
you are malicious," said I : "we blame your
countrymen who have concubines, and you
offer your daughter as such to the priest !
Put on your pelisse," said I to the girl, seri-
ously, " and come with me to my house."
She hastily threw on her pelisse, and passed by
her father, who said nothing, and let her go.
I did not observe any change in his counte-
nance ; but the women must have remarked
it, for they all went out, as I supposed, to
accompany the bride. When we were alone,
I said to him, " You see that your opposition
availed nothing : I have invited you to dinner
to-day ; come now with me ; see your
daughter married ; and dine with me." He
made no answer. " Very well," said I ;
turned from him, and went to the door of the
passage oUt of the house ; but, as I stooped, in
order to go down into the passage, I perceived
that he was behind me. I immediately stood
upright ; and, turning round, saw him with
his arm lifted, and a large knife in his hand,
with which he intended to stab me in the back,
as soon as I had got with half my body into
the passage, and, therefore, would be incapable
of making any resistance. I instantly seized
174
him, and threw him on the ground ; but he
seized me round the body, and held me so fast,
that I fell on the ground with him. In a rage,
he endeavoured not only to get loose, but also
to give me the meditated blow : he succeeded
in neither ; but, as he was naked, and I could
only hold him fast by the hair, it cost me
trouble enough to manage him. " Now I
could beat you, use you ill, and you deserve
it ; but I will not : I must defend my life, of
which you so basely attempted to deprive me,
but not revenge myself ; thus the great
Teacher commands." " That is the same to
me," replied he, foaming at the mouth. While
this was passing, my man came with his sledge
near the house, to fetch turf 29 . " Quick ! go
in ! Frederick ! the Priest !" and other uncon-
nected words, exclaimed the Greenland women.
He came : " Good God, Sir ! What is that ?
What shall I do ?" cried he, almost beside
himself. " Try to get the knife from him,"
said I ; " take care of it, and of all the others
that you can find : till you have done that, I
dare not let him go." He took my adversary
by the right arm ; but, in disarming him, re-
(29) Not having room in ray house, I kept my turf in the
open air.
175
ceived a severe cut in the finger. At this time,
a young" Greenlander happened to return from
fishing. The women, in their terror, told him
what had happened : he immediately left his
boat, and came in to us. " Priest," said he,
" I will help you. Oh ! the villain !" This
offer was the more laudable, as the Green-
landers are, in general, averse to hurting each
other. " I thank you for your good will,"
said I ; M but now he cannot do much more."
These words gave him strength to make some
faint attempts to get loose without assistance.
At last he said, " Let me go, Priest." I left
him under the guard of his countrymen, and
went away, having first reproved him for his
base and unlawful conduct. When I got into
the open air, I heard my wife, in the utmost
consternation, ask the Greenland women about
me, and for the house in which she had just
been herself , for one of them had called out,
" Come, good lady ; Frederick has doubtless
stabbed the Priest !" She saw me, and wept
for joy.
While all this was passing, the young
couple and the attendants had been waiting
for me. I came now, and, as soon as I had put
my dress in order again, let the ceremony
176
begin with a psalm ; but when I was going* to
advance, in order to speak, the Catechist said
to me, in a whisper, " You must not stand just
before the window : he knows that you always
stand there when you perform the marriage
ceremony, and he might be wicked enough to
shoot you through the window." I was,
therefore, obliged to change my place, and
make the young couple change theirs. The
ceremony began and finished ; and never did
a Greenland bride give me such a willing and
plain answer as this one. The young couple,
the Catechist, and his wife, dined with us (the
train, as usual on such occasions, I had enter-
tained in a Greenland house) ; but, though I
tried to encourage them, there prevailed in
the company a silence, a fearful presentiment
of some misfortune impending over me, which
Providence graciously averted. Notwithstand-
ing all the opposition that the father had
made, he was soon reconciled to his son-in-law ;
the marriage was happy. I took my usual
walks without apprehension ; and he never
afterwards tried to injure me.
177
Chap. X.
Sequel to the preceding Chapter.
It may easily be supposed, that the event
related in the preceding* Chapter was soon
generally known. Since the time of the late
Hans Egede, nobody had yet ventured to lay
hands upon the Priest, or upon any European.
It was spoken of at visits, and, especially, at
the fishing* places, where so many persons are
sometimes assembled. The most, particu-
larly my baptized Greenlanders, considered
his conduct as a crime towards their good
Priest, as they called me ; others smiled, and
said, M So, then, there are, at last, people who
dare shew the Danes that they are not masters
here." The Danes in the neighbouring colo-
nies heard the news with astonishment j and
wrote me word, that, if the account were true,
this Greenlander must be publicly whipped ;
and that, if I desired it, their people should
come to inflict the punishment. I thanked
them ; but, at the same time, assured them
that I did not think of taking any revenge ;
that what had passed would have no farther
a a
178
consequences, &c. However, he no longer
frequented our Christian assemblies : I sent to
him, but he made an excuse ; I went to him,
but he always contrived to avoid me.
About a year had passed in this manner,
when an epidemic distemper attacked the
Greenlanders, and carried many off ; so many,
indeed, that, at last, the healthy were not
sufficient to bury the dead : they then crept
with their corpses to me, and left it to my care
to do the rest. From morning to evening I
went about among all their sick ; spoke to
them, and gave them the medicine which I
judged proper for them. Some became deaf;
to these I was obliged to cry every thing
aloud : others became delirious ; with these I
was forced to watch for lucid intervals : all
had a most dreadfully offensive breath. Five
or six weeks passed before the disorder sensibly
diminished : it was, in truth, in many re-
spects, a hard time for a feeling heart 30 .
One morning, after I had returned home
from paying my first visits to the sick, to take
a little breakfast, my Greenlander suddenly
entered the door, and stood still. I asked him
(30) At this time, I always chewed a piece of Angelica root,
as au antidote.
m
to sit down : he did so ; but was still silent,
and cast his eyes on the ground. At last, I
broke the silence ; and inquired his business.
" I wish much to speak to you, Priest," said
he ; " but I am unworthy, and I suppose you
will not help me." "'Certainly I will help
you," answered I, " if I can: have yoti'an^
one sick '?" " My only son," replied he, " is
very ill." " I spoke to him but yesterday,"
said I, "and, when I asked him after his
health, he told me he was well and hearty."
" Yesterday evening," continued he, " he be-
came ill, very ill." This youth, seventeen or
eighteen years of age, was well-informed ;
read and wrote well ; promised to become an
active fisherman ; and was his father's orily
earthly hope. While I was making myself
ready to accompany him, I said to him, " But
tell me now, Was it Teally your intention to
kill me, or did you merely mean to frighten
me ?" " It was my intention to kill you,"
answered he : " if you had not o suddenly
turned round, and thrown me on the ground,
my knife would certainly have put an end to
your life. I was malicious; I was mad.
Can you forgive me ? Will you help me ?"-^
" I have forgiven you," I answered : " our
180
great Master in Heaven forbids us to revenge
ourselves on those who injure us \ and com-
mands us to forgive them, as he forgave his
murderers. Now come !" I accompanied
him to his house ; I fervently prayed to
God (why should I conceal it?) that the
youth might live. His recovery, thought I,
will thoroughly convince the father of my
forgiveness ; and religion will gain by it.
I afterwards visited him every day, as I did
my other patients , but he died. This loss,
this great affliction, deeply affected the father ;
but, at the same time, produced a change in
him for the better. A few days after the
death of his son, he came to me again : "I
am greatly afflicted, Priest !" said he ; " have
you consolation for me ?" This confidence,
especially from him, gave me infinite plea-
sure, and I made use of it. From that time,
he not only came to divine service on the
Sunday, but also to daily prayers, and to the
teaching of the catechism. Every week he
visited me once or twice ; and almost every
time one of his questions was, " Priest, have
you forgiven me ?" I gained him entirely ;
and he also gave me one proof more of the
truth which I so willingly cherish, that, by
181
reasonable and Christian kindness, we can
effect much more, with most men, than by
severity. Should I have gained this man (I
trust, with confidence, that I gained him for
heaven), if, by the help of others, I had had
him bound to a stake, and chastised ?
Chap. XL
The Child Saved.
Among the heathens, when a mother, who
has a child at the breast, dies, and there is no
other mother near who can suckle it, the child
is generally buried alive with its deceased
mother. Thus I once learned, that the hea-
thens, half a mile to the north of me, had laid
a child, about a quarter of a year old, with
its mother in the grave, but, from a certain
degree of feeling, had not wholly stifled it by
the stones which they had laid upon the grave.
They heard it faintly moan, and so it lived
for about a day. This account, the first in its
kind since I had come to Greenland, greatly
affected me. Some days afterwards, I went
182
to these people, to reprove them for the wrong
they had done. They did not deny the deed,
but would not have it looked upon as crufelty.
"What shall we do, Priest?" said they:
" you know that we love our children ; but if
the mother of the poor little things die while
they are at the breast, and no other woman is
near, who can take care of them, they must
either die of hunger, or cry themselves to
death : is it, then, not better that we, out of
compassion, give them a quicker death ?" In
fact, they have no means to support such
innocent little creatures but the breast ; no
milk, no light food. I could of course not
approve of their cruel compassion, but told
them, that, if such a case should often happen,
they should inform me of it ; I would then
fetch the orphan child, and have it brought up.
About a year after this, one of these Green-
landers came to me in a hurry. " Priest,"
said he, " we have not forgotten your words ;
M. N. 's wife bore a boy to-day, and died. All
the others are absent, as you know ; and there
is no one to suckle him. Will you take him ?
if not, we bury him with his mother." I
thanked him that he had remembered my
words, gave him a little present, and im-
183
mediately sent my women's boat to fetch
the boy, whom they brought me well and
hungry. My wife put him to the breast , he
satisfied his first hunger, and fell asleep. Mean-
while, I persuaded a Greenland woman, for
payment, to give him the necessary attention,
for our own son was not yet a quarter of a year
old ; but he received from my wife his daily
nourishment. He grew and throve by it, and
began to take notice. His smiles were her
reward. I baptized him the following Sun-
day, and called him after a brother of my
wife's, to make him dearer to her. The day
before, the father came to me, and asked me
whether 1 would baptize his child. On my
answering in the affirmative, he asked per-
mission to be present. He obtained it, under
the condition that he would be quiet. He
came. Every thing which he saw and heard
during divine service, was new and surprising
to him ; but he was all ear. During the bap-
tismal ceremony, a tear started into his eyes ;
why ? he did not know himself. When divine
service was over, I said to him, " Now, your
son is my son ; nay, more than mine : he now
belongs to the great Lord in heaven, who
will make him unspeakably happy." " Yes,"
184
answered he $ " you have behaved to him like
a father, and your wife is like a real mother ;
but now I will live with you, and be obedi-
ent, and become a believer ; I may then
see him sometimes ?" " Yes," answered I,
" daily, if you like." He, in fact, came soon
afterwards, with his whole family, often saw
his son, and was baptized the following" year.
After the custom of the country, the boy
was now our son, and, as such, he became daily
dearer to us. I often fancied him as the well
educated youth, as the enlightened, upright
man, as a useful teacher among his country-
men; but a prevailing and mortal epidemic
tore him from us at the age of a year and a
quarter. We lost him ; but he attained a bet-
ter life.
Chap. XII.
Witchcraft.
One Sunday afternoon, I visited a sick
woman, whose indisposition, which was only
a cold, was soon removed by a perspiring
draught : but while she was in her perspira-
tion, her brother, who was a conjurer, unhap-
pily came to visit her. He saw her perspire,
and asked, " How ? what is that ?" She said
she was sick, but that the Priest had given her
something" to make her perspire, after which
she would be well. " No," said he, myste-
riously, M that is not the case -, you are still
sick : a wicked witch has brought it on you."
The persons present were attentive, and looked
at each other embarrassed. " I will soon disco-
ver her," said he; and what was unusual among
the baptiied Greenlanders, the husband allow-
ed him to shew his art. He did it with the
usual formalities, and the result was, that an
elderly woman in the place, against whom he,
perhaps, had a spite, was, as he pretended,
the person who had bewitched her. " Under
b b
186
the bench," cried he, "I see her spirit, which
tries to seize you." "Fire! fire!" cried he
to the husband and the others : " drive her
away ! kill her." Immediately they seized
their guns, and fired several times at the wick-
ed spirit. At the same time, they howled and
cried aloud.
I wondered, indeed, at hearing musket shot
at this time, but could form no conjecture of
the cause. A Greenlander now put his head
into the door of the room, and cried, " Priest !
Priest ! come up to the houses ! they are
mad." I hastened after him to learn something
more before I got there ; and he told me what
I have just related, and also that the woman
who was accused of being a witch, was al-
most dead with terror. My way led me past
her door ; I went in, and found her in a state
like that of a person who, trembling, awaits her
death. " Be of good cheer," said I ; " they
shall do you no harm. God in heaven protects
the innocent." I spoke these words with
confidence, though 1 did not know how the
people would receive me in their present tem-
per, and what effect my address to them might
produce. I entered the house, which was full
of the smoke of gunpowder; and the guns
187
which had been discharged, still lay there.
All were much confused when they saw me,
particularly the master of the house. I was
serious, but not angry. " Sit down, Priest,"
said he, at last, and laid the bear skin in order.
I sat down, and shoved aside the fire-arms that
lay near me. " What do they here ?" said I.
" Whence this smell ? What is the cause of so
many shot ?" many questions at once, in-
deed, but all leading to the same point. The
man was silent. " Are you still sick ?" said I
to the wife : she, too, was silent. " You are no
longer sick," said I, firmly : " you only pre-
tend to be so. I know all that has passed here.
You," said I to the husband, " have had con-
juring tricks performed over your wife: the
conjurer has accused Paul's wife of being a
witch ; you have fired at her spirit, and de-
signed to kill her : you are wicked men."
" How do you know that ?" said he, abruptly.
" I know it," I replied ; " and now I tell
you, if ever you suffer any conjuring in
your house again, you cannot be a be-
liever, and not live among them. Another
time I will convince you that you have acted
wrong, for now you are not in a condition
to regard my words 5 but, if you kill Paul's
188
-wife, or suffer her to be killed, you shall
be severely punished : she is innocent $ I take
her under my protection.' ' -" I will not kill
her," said he, with a suppressed voice, but
was in violent agitation. " Where is the con-
jurer," asked I, " who dare to perform his
tricks here, and to corrupt my believers ?"
I looked around, and perceived him lying un-
der a large skin. I arose, threw the skin off
him, and seized him firmly by one shoulder.
He sat down. " You are an impostor," said
I, " and can do only evil ; you do not cure
your sister ; I have cured her : to-morrow you
shall come tome." He did not answer. At
last I went away ; and, on my return, called
on the poor woman, who was still suspended
between fear and hope. " No one shall lay
hand On you," said I : " trust in God, and be
comforted !"- " Thank you, Priest !" answer-
ed she , " my soul now begins to live again."
The conjurer came to me the next day, as I
had desired ; but, out of fear> he had prevailed
on his baptized brother, who had not been
present at the cbnjuration, the preceding even-
ing, to come along 1 with him. The brother
came in first, and said^ "My brother is with*
out j but he is afraid."" He is afraid," said
189
I, a because he has done evil : he who does
good is not afraid.' ' I called him in ; and he
came very humbly. " I should have good
reason to punish you," said I ; " but, as you
do not know yourself what evil you might do
among my believers by your conjurations, I
will spare you; but on condition that you
never come here again."** I will never come
again," answered he ; and, as long as I was in
the country, he kept his word. i{ One thing
more," added 1 : " should any one venture to
kill Paul's wife, you shall be considered as the
perpetrator ; and I shall find you, wherever
you may be." " She shall not die," he re-
plied. " Well, then, return home ; and do
not forget what you have promised me."
190
Chap. XIII.
The Whale found.
The Greenlanders are extremely rejoiced
when they have taken a whale, and they have
reason to be so, as it affords them great ad-
vantages. The men put on their water-proof
coats, and the women adorn themselves : the
latter tow the animal to the shore, singing" ;
while the former, like ravens, sit upon it, and
rip off the skin.
They always sent a Kajak to inform me of
such a prize ; and, at the same time, invited
me and my wife to see it. When we arrived,
they received us with songs. " There comes
our good Priest," said they, " and his good
wife : they will see our whale, and rejoice with
us. Come and see !" When we returned
home, they sang again : sometimes we accom-
panied them on shore, at least as near to the
land as the animal could swim. The women
rowed home, with joyful songs ; and the men
proceeded seriously to their profitable work.
They had once pierced a whale, pursued
191
him, and cut him in some places, yet he
escaped ; though they had so wounded him
that he afterwards died. He was found, in
the winter, about a mile from the colony. I
was, as usual, invited to see this prize , and,
as I had just to make a journey to the south,
on business, I accepted this invitation, and
stayed with them several hours. Though the
frost was very severe, and the ice thick, there
was yet open water round the dead animal,
and the Greenlanders were hard at work. Some
cut off whalebone, under the water; others
blubber. The dogfish regaled themselves, and
bit out large pieces of fat with their sharp
teeth ; only, when they came too near the
Greenlanders, the latter pushed them away.
They helped me to draw one of them upon
the ice, and cut him open : the stomach was full
of pieces of whale fat ; and the flesh moved
long after it was dead. The Greenlanders
value this animal but little, as its flesh is not
to their taste, and has no blubber ; only the
liver contains the very finest train oil : they
throw it into a cask, and it dissolves entirely
into oil ; but the Greenlanders do not think
it worth their while to catch it for this reason.
I jumped upon the dead whale, and walked
192
some steps up and down on a piece of spungy
flesh : they told me that it was the tongue. I
examined it more closely, and thought how
suitable it was to the great jaws and the im-
mense body. It is generally known that the
swallow of this animal is no larger than a great
tea cup, that it has no teeth 31 , and that it lives
and fattens on small insects that are found in
these waters. I took leave of my Greenland-
ers, and continued my journey.
On these occasions, their joy makes the
Greenlanders very careless. With long knives,
like sword blades, they dive under the water
to cut off the whalebone : often one stands
on the shoulder of the other to keep him
under the water, as his water-proof cloak would
otherwise cause him to rise. When he who is
under the water can no longer hold his breath,
he makes a motion with his body, and the man
who stands upon his shoulders leaps off. He
now thrusts his knife upwards, and rises with
a loud roar, which is caused by the air be-
ing so long compressed. It was upon such
an occasion that a misfortune happened, which
was great enough in itself, but which might
(31) There i a smaller kind of whale with teeth.
193
have had still more melancholy consequences.
A Greenlander, who had been under the water,
thrust his knife upwards, perhaps with more
carelessness than usual, and run it into the
body of another, who was rather higher, cut-
ting" off the kin. The deceased was the most
respectable of my baptized Greenlanders, and
his death would certainly have been revenged,
if the circumstance had happened among the
heathens. To testify his regret, the perpetra-
tor took him on his lap, as they rowed home,
and the next day gave to the foster-son
of the deceased a new rifle gun, by way of
atonement for the grief which he had caused
him by his unhappy imprudence. Among
others, there came some heathen friends, to
condole with the widow. These dropt some
hints that the murder ought to be revenged ;
but the widow answered, " That will not
bring my husband back again : the murder
was not done on purpose, and I am a be-
liever."
The moment I was informed of this unhap-
py event, I hastened home, in order to prevent
any farther misfortune, if there should be rea-
son to fear it. I went immediately to the af-
flicted widow, who related to me, with tears,
c c
194
the virtues of her husband, and his affection
for her 32 . She promised me that she, being a
Christian, would never allow any harm to be
done to the perpetrator. He lived, however,
in constant fear of death, became inactive,
and was nowhere at ease , nay, he even beg-
ged me to send him to our country, where
alone he would be in safety. I was often
obliged to assure him that he should not be
afraid for his life, as the act was involuntary,
and the widow had pardoned him ; but, as he
was the same man, who had allowed his hea-
then brother-in-law to perform a conjuration
over his sick wife, as I have mentioned above,
I represented to him, at the same time, that
this uneasiness and anxiety, perhaps, came
upon him as an atonement for the distress
which he had caused the innocent woman, who
was accused as a witch. " Now," I said, " he
might feel himself what it was to fear every
moment a violent death." " I did wrong,"
said he ; " and now I am afraid." " Yes,"
said I ; " she too was afraid, but you did not
regard it. God preserved her, as she was in-
(32) As a husband, the deceased was the more worthy of
praise, because he continued to love his wife, though she was
barren.
195
nocent ; he will also preserve you, as your
action was not voluntary, and you, besides,
so sincerely repent it." In this manner, I,
by degrees, made him easy j but a certain
melancholy hung" upon him ever after. His
former activity returned, but he was more fre-
quent and more serious in his attendance on
divine service. In short, this misfortune made
a better man of him ; for though not vicious,
he was before the most indifferent among my
baptized Greenlanders.
Chap. XIV.
Some cliaracteristic Features.
Liberty and equality are the property of
the Greenlanders. No one assumes any kind
of authority over others. Every one is inde-
pendent, and can do what he thinks fit. Re-
spect is, however, shewn to the meritorious,
that is, to the active and successful fisherman.
His word has always a certain weight in their
conferences, and they frequently pay him a
kind of voluntary obedience, though without
19G
any farther consequences either to him or
themselves. Their good disposition, and their
natural modesty, prevent this liberty from
exceeding the bounds of propriety. With-
out magistrates, without laws, they live in
peace and harmony : you never hear a dispute
about property, never a reproach made to
him who has unawares done another an in-
jury : the first accuses himself; the latter
makes him easy, and says, " it is of no con-
sequence."
The women attend to the household con-
cerns, do their needlework, and chat famili-
arly together during the day, when the men
are from home fishing ; and when the latter
come home, they relate to each other, as
good friends, their success and accidents in
their fishery. They eat what the fortune of
the day has procured, or what the house af-
fords ; and are satisfied, even if their hunger is
hardly allayed.
The inhabitants of one place live in mutual
friendship, and share their goods with each
other. If, for example, a white fish 33 is taken,
they prepare an entertainment. It is speedily cut
(33) The flesh of the white fish looks like beef ; it yields- a
barrel of blubber, or more, according to its size.
197
up, and put in the kettles. They invite their
neighbours to dinner, and the house is im-
mediately full of guests : they eat, converse,
and are merry. If two, three, or more, of
these animals are caught on the same day,
company must be invited to all, and they
must be all eaten up. I was present one even-
ing at the fourth entertainment, and won-
dered at the appetite with which they de-
voured this repast. " But," said I, " how
can you eat so much at once ? and you eat as
if you were still hungry !" " We can eat a
great deal, and we can fast, as it happens,"
was the answer. " Feel, Priest," said a man,
pointing to his belly, " it is now like a stretch-
ed drum 3 *-, but soon, perhaps, it may be as
lank as an empty bladder." He meant that
in a short time he might be unfortunate in the
chase. At such entertainments, and whenever
they are very successful in fishing, they never
neglect to send their portion to the widows
(34) The only national musical instrument of the Green*
landers is the drum, which consists of a wooden hoop a finger
broad, and has a thin skin drawn over only one side of it. It
is about an ell in diameter, and has a handle. The Green-
lander strikes it with a stick, on the lower edge. It formerly
played a conspicuous part in the mummeries of the Angekoks.
Fries.
198
and orphans, even before they themselves eat.
" The poor," say they, "have no husband, no
father, no one to rejoice them with their suc-
cess in fishing."
They are hospitable to strangers, according
to the manner of the country. The visitor
remains on the outside till he is invited to
enter. When he enters, the master of the
house shews him a seat, and understands,
on this occasion, how to treat him with due
respect. The wife asks for his clothes, to
dry them, and then gives him refreshment ;
but he does not eat immediately at the first
invitation, that he may not appear hungry.
During and after the repast, they chat till it
is time to go to sleep. The inhabitants of
the house lay themselves down, one after
the other ; and the stranger (so decorum re-
quires) last. The Europeans, however, do not
observe this rule of politeness, and the natives
excuse them from it.
When on my journies to the south, I was
obliged to take up my night's lodging among
the heathens : I saw them all assembled on the
beach at my arrival. Every master of a fa-
mily invited me ; and he, whose invitation was
accepted, considered it as an honour. Soon he
199
shewed me a seat, which was covered with a
piece of clean bear's skin ; and the wife took
my pelisse. In a short time, I was visited by
almost all the men of the place, whom I en-
tertained with accounts of my country, of na-
vigation, of agriculture, of the growth and
preparation of corn, &c. When I took out my
little box with provisions, the host or hostess
used to say, " It is a pity, Priest, that you
do not eat our food ; you are in other respects
like one of us.'* After a time, I dismissed my
visitors, by saying I was sleepy. The host
then gave me his own sleeping place, next to
his wife 35 , who took all possible care of me,
and, repeatedly, asked if I was comfortable.
I, indeed, answered in the affirmative ; but,
without being insensible to the honour shewn
me, I found the bed hard, my sleep short, and
my ribs sore, though I used them all alike.
My provision-box was the pillow, my short
pelisse the quilt , the boards of the bench, co-
vered with seals' skins, the bed : but I accus-
tomed myself to this ; as one gets accustomed
to every thing, and, at last, slept very well
on such a bed. The reader must not, however,
(35) Ad honour, which, in my time, was not shewn to any
servant of the company.
200
think that the man so entirely trusts his wife
to others : no, he merely resigned to me his
place as husband, as the most honourable, and
laid himself down on the other side of her,
where the children usually sleep. When I
took leave, I always gave them a little present
of bread and tobacco ; and they were so well
satisfied with it, that they invited me to visit
them on my return.
They abhor theft, particularly among" each
other ; they, therefore, do not shut up their
things, but put them carelessly and openly,
not only every where about the house, but even
on the flat roof of the house ; and no stranger
ventures to touch them, or take any part
away. Formerly, they were not so scrupu-
lous, when they could find an opportunity to
pilfer any thing from a Dane ; but this is no
longer the case, unless it be done by a heathen
from some distant part, and even that is now
rare.
As they are well made, fleshy, and full of
blood, the sexual passion developes itself early ;
and the young men, therefore, look out for
a wife as soon as they are able to maintain one,
but not before. Youthful excesses are, how-
ever, disapproved among them, and are very
201
seldom heard of. In the whole time of my
residence in the country, only one girl had
become pregnant by her lover before mar-
riage ; but she had to pay dear enough for her
imprudence. But, properly, this temperance
is found only between the natives of both
sexes : towards the Danes, on the contrary,
the girls are even forward : they love to dress
and shew themselves ; and even interpret a
smile to their advantage. That they do not
understand each other's language, is no great
obstacle to them ; for, if a Dane has learnt
the words (which are, generally, the first that
he learns after his arrival) " I love you ;" and
if he, at the same time, lays his hand on his
heart, the girl feels herself flattered, and happy
in his love 36 . Vanity, by which so many have
fallen, has, doubtless, more share than inclina-
tion in this preference given to the Danes ; for
a girl who marries a sailor can lead a more
easy life, live better, dress better, be more re-
spected, keep maid servants, and eat at plea-
sure, sometimes Danish, sometimes Greenland
food. How seducing is all this, even when no
(36) At first, most of the sailors do not find the girls of
the country to their taste; but the daily sight, want of Danish
girls, and leisure, soon make them appear tolerable.
D d
202
personal preference is given ! Neither the
heathens nor the Christians marry their rela-
tions ; not even in a remote degree : they con-
sider it as improper, and carefully avoid it ;
nay, they think with so much delicacy on this
subject, that, when a man educates a charge
child among his own, it is considered as their
brother or sister ; and I am not acquainted
with a single instance, of children thus brought
up together having married each other.
On some occasions, the Greenlanders shew
a want of courage, nay, even cowardice. If
they are sensibly offended or ill treated, or
when they want to kill a witch, they set little
value upon their lives ; otherwise, an active
Dane can make many of them run away.
Sometimes they make up for this cowardice
by cunning, and secretly take away the life
of their enemy, whom they are afraid to attack
openly. If the murder afterwards becomes
known, it is looked upon by every body with
indifference , only the nearest relations of the
deceased revenge it in time, if an opportunity
offers. They are capable of bearing fatigue
and inconvenience without regarding them ;
and they shew courage and presence of mind
in danger. Without desponding, they en-
203
deavour to preserve their lives as long as pos-
sible ; but are, at the same time, indifferent to
death, when it cannot be avoided.
The merchant at Christianshaab had once
taken a journey, for some miles, in the com-
pany of a Greenlander. While they were
stopping- at the place they had gone to, a
storm arose from the south-east 37 . They,
therefore, hastily set out to return home ; but,
when they had got about half way, the ice had
broke, and drove, in large flakes, from the
coast to which they were going. They drove
backwards and forwards, but did not advance
much. The flakes of ice broke more and
more to pieces ; and there was every appear-
ance that they would be obliged to abandon
their sledges, and try to save their lives, as
long as possible, by jumping from one piece
(37) This wind brings such a degree of warmth with it,
that the snow melts in the middle of winter : the lower rocks
appear black, and the -va Hies green; but it is so violent and
tempestuous, that people who are in the open air must throw
themselves upon the ground, that they may not be carried
away, or thrown down, when the gusts come. The thick
strand ice breaks into larger and smaller pieces ; and soon the
open sea appears, where, a short time before, there was firm
footing on the ice for many miles. All this is the work of a
day ; nay, sometimes of only a few hours.
204
to another. " Merchant,' * said the Green-
lander, quite composed, " you cannot jump
as I can ; and it does not appear that I can
help you : perhaps I may save my life ; you
hardly will. Hear! you have a pencil and
paper in your book ; tear a piece out -, and
write here, upon my back (he stooped down
as he said this), that you were drowned ;
otherwise your people might believe, when I
come on shore, that I have killed you." The
merchant, it may be supposed, had no mind to
do this ; but begged the Greenlander, for
God's sake, not to forsake him. " I will not
forsake you," answered the Greenlander ; " but
you may be drowned in taking a leap, when
I can be saved by it. However, if you die,
I can die also ; and then nobody can find
fault." This conversation lasted but for a
few minutes. At last, after much labour and
danger, both saved their lives, and were re-
joiced ; but the Merchant could not forget
the coolness with which the Greenlander had
persuaded him to write that he was drowned ;
and the other joked with him about it:
" That was droll," said he ; " the Merchant
would not write ! You were afraid, Mer-
chant!"
205
The Greenlanders are much too careless
about the future ; and, therefore, do not pro-
perly prepare for the possible case, that their
fishery may be unsuccessful. In summer, they,
indeed, provide themselves with some bags of
dried herrings, and dried seal's flesh ; but, if
their fishery is unsuccessful for some time, and
they are obliged daily to take from this little
store, it is soon consumed, and they are threat-
ened with want. In severe winters, they are
frequently obliged to suffer hunger, in a greater
or less degree ; but still they do not, upon the
whole, become more prudent. They always
hope for future success ; and, in the literal
sense of the expression, let every day bear its
own burthen.
206
Chap. XV.
The severe Winter.
Every winter, in Greenland, is severe ; but
they are not all equally so . The Danes have ob-
served, that, if the winter in Denmark has been
severe, that in Greenland was, in its kind,
more mild, and vice versd. During my stay
there, one winter was distinguished by its se-
verity. The ice lay, for many months, fast
in the gulph, for ten miles, and to the island
Disco, which was seldom the case. The seals
retired so far, that the Greenlanders, with all
their rowing", and with the greatest activity,
could not procure the necessary food for them-
selves and families. Their winter provisions
were soon consumed *, want, and, soon after,
real famine, was at hand. The heathens, half a
mile to the north of my place of abode, were,
like the other Greenlanders, obliged to slaugh-
ter their dogs, though they are as indispen-
207
sable to them as horses to us ; not to say that
they never eat dog's flesh. When these were
gone, they tore the old hard skins from the
walls, put them in soak, and attempted to eat
them. This they could, indeed, do, because
the Greenlanders have excellent teeth ; but
this food was indigestible, and only made
them weak. Many died for want. I could
not and durst not see this want, among my
baptized Greenlanders and Catechumens, with-
out helping them, as far as possible. I first
distributed my stock of meat and bacon,
which I bought every autumn for widows who
had little children ; and, when this was gone,
I had, two days in the week, some groats and
peas boiled in my brewing copper, and dis-
tributed. My wife filled the dishes of the
hungry ; and, at the same time, divided some
stockfish. They received these gifts thank-
fully, and with joy. " You bad 38 Danes,"
said they once, u have provisions so far from
your own home, and even for us, who suffer
want in our own country." This distribution
continued long, and, at last, brought me into
(38) Here, a well meant expression.
208
debt 39 ; but I had also the pleasure, that my
Greenlanders had strength to work when the
fishery began ; while, on the contrary, the
heathens were so weakened or sick, that they
could not, for a long time, make use of the
fishery. With what pleasure would I have
relieved their wants also ! Several received
help, for a moment ; but it was impossible
to relieve them all.
(39) In the beginning, the Ministers were obliged to distri-
bute, in such cases, every thing necessary, for the account of
the Missionary College ; but this liberality had long ceased.
To receive provisions twice a-week is, certainly, not enough
for support ; but we here see, that not only life, but also a
certain degree of strength to work, was preserved. Perhaps
the Danish provisions are more nourishing for these people
than their own.
209
Chap. XVI.
The Mode of Instruction.
The opinion, that nations who live in a
high northern latitude are more indolent, and
more dull of conception, seems, to me, not
applicable to the Greenlanders. That they
are ignorant in things of which they have
never heard, cannot be brought as a proof
against them, if it can be shewn that they are
not only ingenious, and inventive in things
which relate to their daily life, and employ-
ment, but also that they soon understand in-
struction which is given them. They have a
quick comprehension, a retentive memory, and
readily imbibe those religious truths which
may be understood, if they are clearly ex-
plained to them. In proportion as they im-
prove, their desire of learning increases ; and
they frequently make sacrifices to receive in-
struction for a whole day. Their religion
does not hinder them from embracing Christ-
ianity. They pay adoration to no being,
e e
210
and have no god to exchange ; for they do
not much regard their Torngarsuk, and do not
think much good of him. It cannot, therefore,
be wondered at, that they like to hear of
an almighty, wise, and beneficent Being, who
does so much good to mankind ; that they
wish to learn more about him, and promise to
obey him. It is very seldom that one who
has begun to take instruction goes back ; but
they often make visible improvement. The
children, in particular, shew the greatest in-
clination to go to school, and love of learning
and diligence when they are there. They are
unacquainted with constraint, as we shall see
in the sequel. This by the way on their dis-
position to religious instructions.
The heathens like to hear of the Supreme
Being, who is called God ; but it must seem
to be by chance. If we satisfy their curiosity,
by relating to them something concerning our
country, we may generally direct their thoughts
upwards ; for example, by saying to them,
" All this we owe to a mighty and good
Being, who has created and supports every
thing," &c. Most of them are not wholly
ignorant ; but, to make them desire more par-
ticular instruction, they generally, but not
211
always, have need of some impulse from with-
out. Some accept invitations from their bap-
tired relations ; some come because they are
embarrassed to find a lodging- ; others, again,
out of grief on the death or murder of a friend ;
and others, in fine, because they are accused of
witchcraft, and pursued for that reason. For
such reasons many came to me to be instructed ;
and they related, frankly, the motives of their
desire. Temporal advantages, most certainly,
do not entice them to us. When baptized,
they enjoy no advantages above the heathens on
that account, but are even sometimes slighted,
under the pretence that they are dishonest in
their payments, and not to be trusted. The
true reason of this is, because they are thought
to be rather more prudent, and not so willing
to fill the bottomless blubber tubs. But this
by the bye. I will here give a short account
of the nature and manner of the instruction,
as well in respect to the grown-up heathens or
Catechumens, whom their age and their occu-
pations did not allow to learn to read, as to
the baptized and their children.
As soon as we had, in some measure, given
the former an idea of God, of his properties,
and his relation to the world, we proceeded to
212
instruct them out of the books : these were, in
my time, Luther's Catechism, the first printed
book in Greenland, by H. Egede, and Pon-
toppidan's Explanation : every sentence was
read and explained to them 40 . Now the teach-
er read to them ; the Catechumens listened at-
tentively, and repeated, softly, what they
heard (because, as has been already said, they
could not read themselves) ; and, after some
repetitions, he asked sometimes one, sometimes
another, if they had understood him ; whether
they had retained any thing-, &c. &c. These
readings were continued every day ; and some
progress was daily made. Every thing which
had been learned was gone through again, every
week. In this manner, those who were docile
and diligent were able, between Michaelmas
and Whitsuntide, to learn by heart, and un-
derstand, the abovementioned books, with the
exception of some chapters, which were ex-
plained to them afterwards. But it was not
the understanding only that gained ; the
heart, too, was (God be thanked !) often moved.
Of this we were particularly convinced on the
(40) I left this business, in the first years, to my old Cate-
chist, who was not alone a well-informed man, but also spoke
the language like a native.
213
day when the Catechumens were baptized.
With proper seriousness, they gave an account
of their knowledge in Christianity ; with pro-
found feeling and holy purposes, most of them
pronounced their vows, and received baptism,
kneeling. The baptism of the Catechumens is
a true festival.
But those, who have not learned to read,
must soon forget the instruction they have
received, if it is not continued. For this rea-
son, as long as the winter lasted, there were
daily prayers in one of the largest Greenland
houses, every morning and evening. Except
on Sunday, when divine service was perform-
ed, they were called every morning to pray-
ers, before the men went to their fishing. As
soon as they were assembled, a hymn was
sung, and the Catechism gone through ; then
a morning prayer was read, and, at the conclu-
sion, some verses. The whole lasted about
an hour. The old people were questioned
from the Catechism as well as the young ;
and like them appeared again in the evening,
at the catechization and prayers. In this man-
ner, they not only did not forget what they had
learned, but made great improvement. On
Saturdays and Sundays, instead of the catechiza-
214
tion, in the evening*, one or two chapters of the
New Testament were read. Thus, they had an
opportunity of hearing 1 the sacred books them-
selves, and they recollected the passages which
proved the truths which they had learned.
When they had learned the whole explana-
tion by heart, and expressed a wish to par-
take of the Lord's Supper, they were especial-
ly instructed in the intention of Jesus in found-
ing the Sacrament ; and then, if their conduct
was good, admitted with their old countrymen
to the Lord's table, by which they felt them-
selves still more bound to act with integrity.
It is surprising that these people, who have
grown up as heathens, are able, when baptized,
to lay aside almost all their ancient superstiti-
ous opinions ; and yet this is really the case.
But if any should be deficient, the warn-
ing of the Minister, in private, is generally
sufficient to bring them back. They promise
amendment, and it is seldom, extremely sel-
dom, that they break their word.
The Greenland children are desirous of
learning, and the parents encourage them in
it ; they were seen to carry the little chil-
dren to school, through the deep snow, and
fetch them away. From nine o'clock in the
215
morning", till two in the afternoon, I was em-
ployed in giving instruction every day except
Saturday. The little ones soon learnt their
letters, and endeavoured to advance farther ;
the bigger ones were divided into classes, ac-
cording to their abilities and knowledge, and
all learnt by heart, after they got home, the
lesson which had been explained to them. By
way of change, the latter wrote some hours
every day, and, as the room was so confined, I
was forced to let some read while others wrote,
and the first again write while the latter read.
At the ag"e of eleven, at the most of twelve,
and, sometimes, of ten, they could read any
printed Greenland book readily and fluently,
and could say by heart the Catechism, a part
of Pontoppidan's Explanation, &c. As the
latter was not printed, I wrote a copy as legi-
bly as I could, and divided it into slips, which
I laid before the children to copy, when they
could write a little, and read writing with
ease. Thus, several could copy the book at
the same time, and which I afterwards gave
them, stitched together. They looked upon it
with delight, as a testimony of their improve-
ment, and preserved it as a sacred treasure.
As they often wrote letters to each other, nay
216
even to me, they acquired more facility in
writing" ; and, at the same time, were accus-
tomed to think, and to express their thoughts.
Thus all of them, girls as well as boys, learnt
to write, while, at the same time, besides
reading the books of instruction, they made
themselves better acquainted with the New
Testament, particularly the Evangelists, than
they were in their younger years, when they
read them merely to learn to read. In their
thirteenth year, or when they were thirteen
years old, they were discharged from the
school, till they were afterwards to be in-
structed for the purpose of being confirmed.
In doing this, there was nothing to fear ;
the daily examination at the hour of prayer
was our security, that they would never forget
what they had learned.
All this was done without the least con-
straint ; but, as far as the children were con-
cerned, not without encouragement. In my
school journal, I noted the extremely rare
cases of neglect, the greater or less degree of
diligence and good behaviour, and divided
among them, once a fortnight, a lispound
(twenty pounds) of hard bread, as a re-
ward and encouragement. The diligent re-
217
ceived a loaf; those who had distinguished
themselves by their improvement and good con-
duct, two loaves ; the less diligent half a loaf;
the careless and idle nothing at all. If the re-
ward was encouraging for the former, the
gentle punishment was deeply felt by the lat-
ter ; and it was seldom that I had occasion to
express my dissatisfaction a second time.
Among these children of nature, old as well
as young, I first learned that Man is more
certainly led to what is good by mildness
than by severity -, that rigour, harshness, and
authoritative language, may produce obedi-
ence ; but that love gains the heart more rea-
dily to yield it. In the long period in which I
have since been in office in my own country,
and in the various congregations that have been
intrusted to me, I have experienced the same,
though (I confess) with more frequent excepti-
ons ; but may not these more frequent excepti-
ons be, perhaps, imputed to ourselves, and to
our mode of proceeding ? I, for my part, am
fully convinced, that, in general, Man, when
well treated, wishes to follow the good road.
F f
218
Chap. XVII.
Some Cures.
The baptized Greenlanders apply to the
Minister as well for internal as external dis-
eases, and we are the more bound to assist
them, as we forbid them to apply to the sor-
cerers. But, in my time, most of us came
to Greenland very ignorant of every thing-
relative to this subject. We found there only
a few books, such as Richter's Knowledge of
Man, a book on midwifery, and one or two
books of prescriptions. This was all. But
that we might not kill the poor people in-
stead of helping them, we were obliged dili-
gently to study Richter, and to pay strict
attention to the symptoms of their disorders,
and the remedies prescribed for them. God
knows that this part of my office cost me
much trouble and frequent uneasiness, which
was increased at the beginning by the circum-
stance that I did not understand the Greenland-
ers, and they did not describe their sickness in
such a manner that I could with confidence pre-
219
scribe for them. In such an embarrassment,
and when my interpreter, my old Catechist,
was not present, I more than once gave them
100 drops, and more, of strong- tea (nothing but
drops would do), thinking that, if they did not
do any good, they would at least not kill the
patient. I cannot help smiling, even now,
when I recollect, that a Greenlander one day
came to me for some physic for his sick wife.
He made all manner of signs, and poinded to
his belly. I concluded that he wanted it for
himself, counted, with a grave air 41 , 100 drops
of tea, mixed them with water, and was going
to give him the dose : " No," said he, " it is
my wife ;" and went away with his drops.
The next day he came to me, and said,
" Thank you, Priest ! it did good : sodfc&ll&r;
she had drunk it she was better, and now^^ie is
quite well," Thanks to their good constitu-
tions, and their confidence in the Minister ! I
could mention several important cures that
were effected at a later period, with insignifi-
cant, perhaps in some degree wrong, remedies ;
but I will mention only two, which were cer-
tainly the most remarkable.
(41) Not like a quack, to give myself importance, but not
to excite suspicion by smiling while I counted the drops.
220
One of the sons of the Catechist, went one
day with a companion to shoot birds on the
sea shore. He sat in a stooping" position while
his companion, who was standing* a little be-
hind him, was g"oing- to fire over him, but, in-
stead of that, lodg-ed the whole contents of the
gun in the young- man's left side. He fell,
and was conveyed, as it appeared, dying-, to
his father's tent. I was ill, and my wife was,
therefore, obliged to apply the first dressing*.
The next day, I crawled to him, and found
him in a lamentable situation. I took off the
bandage, and examined the wound. There
were as many holes as there had been shot
in the gun. I tried first to get out the car-
tridge paper, as gently as possible, indeed,
but it could not be done without giving- the
patient great pain. I extracted only a few
shot in this first operation, washed the wound
with wine vinegar, laid lint, and then a plais-
ter for gun-shot wounds upon it. He could
not retain his water, and this was as black as
gunpowder, which shewed that the bladder
was injured. I gave him Essentia dulcis se-
veral times in a day, by the use of which the
bladder was cured, and the urine recovered its
natural colour. I cleaned the wound every
221
day, took out always more shot, and proceed-
ed with the same mode of treatment. But
now, all the holes ran together into one, which
was about as large as a crown piece. One day,
when I took off the bandage, I saw in the
wound some berries, which he had eaten ; nay,
afterwards, even the excrements came through
it : the entrails, therefore, had also suffered
injury. I again gave him Essentia dulcis,
and all returned to its natural order. I leave
it to the gentlemen of the faculty to decide
whether this remedy, or merely kind nature,
had healed the bladder and entrails. I was
not in a hurry with the healing of the wound,
but continued as I had begun. At last, I saw
new flesh, the wound became smaller and
smaller, and, in eight weeks, the cure was so
far effected, that the patient could walk upon
crutches. In four weeks more, he could walk
with the help of a stick ; and, in half a year,
he was as active as if he had never received
any injury, rowed his Kajak, hunted the seal,
and was married a few years after.
A young woman lost her child, which was
but a few weeks old ; she had an ulcer in one
breast, which grew hard, swelled, and gave
her much pain. She came to me : I ap-
222
plied yellow salve of marshmallow, by which
she was cured in a few days. I begged her not to
expose herself to the severe cold, which might
bring on a relapse : but as soon as she was
cured, she forgot the pain, and my warning,
and went out without a cloak. The conse-
quence was, that the breast became harder and
more painful than before. As she had not
followed my advice, she was now afraid or un-
willing to apply to me again. Relief was
necessary : she and her husband consulted to-
gether, and thought, if there were a hole in
the breast, the milk might be easily pressed
out, plaister might be procured, and the wound
might be healed. They proceeded according-
ly. The knives of the Greenlanders are al-
ways sharp, but the man whetted his, and cut
a hole in the breast as long and broad as the
palm of the hand, from above down to the nip-
ple. This operation, indeed, gave the wife
pain, but she bore it patiently, in the hope
that she should now be able to press out the
milk. But they were both soon convinced of
the impossibility of effecting it. The milk
was all changed into corrupt matter, and the
woman could not bear the breast to be touched*
" Let us go to the Priest," said her husband.
223
" But I am ashamed to go to him," replied
the wife, and remained for that day in the
same state. The next dav, when school was
over, I went out into the open space before my
house, to take the fresh air 42 . As I went out,
I saw both the man and his wife in the kitchen ;
but as it was not unusual to see Greenlanders
there, I did not regard it, nodded to them,
and went on. But as they still stood there
when I returned, I said, " Your breast, I sup-
pose, is now quite well." She was silent, but
the husband answered, " No ! it is much worse
than before." " Come in," said I, " that I
may look at it." They went in. She held
one hand under her cloak, to keep it from
touching the sore breast ; her husband helped
her to take off the cloak. I was accustomed
to see bad wounds, large and offensive sores, to
lay plaisters on the former, and to press the
matter out of the latter ; but the appearance of
this breast was new to me, and I doubted
whether I could afford any assistance. The
milk veins were cut through, and full of a
(42) I might well stand in need of fresh air, after having
given lessons for five hours, in a small room, just high enough
to allow of mv standing upright under the beams, and crowd-
ed with forty or fifty children, in greasy cloaks.
224
tough green and yellow pus. The flesh, and
the edges of the wound, were blackish. What
should I do ? I desired my wife to warm some
spirit of camphor, with which I washed the
wound, and continued to do so till all the cor-
rupt milk was removed, nor did I forget to
wash the black edges of the wound. For a
long time, the woman sat insensible ; but, at
last, the flesh assumed a fresher redder colour,
and she felt pain. Though she groaned with
pain, I continued to wash the wound for some
time, till I thought it was quite clean : I then
laid lint upon it ; and, after that, a plaister,
as far as I remember, salve of melilot (Tri-
folium Melilotus), and visited her every day
to look at her breast. Contrary to expecta-
tion, the wound soon began to be covered
with a new skin, and in a month it was
healed ; but the woman never afterwards had
any milk in her breasts. A year after this,
she bore a son, whom my wife suckled, be-
cause the mother herself could not, and there
was no other woman in the neighbourhood
who had a child at the breast. The care which
my wife bestowed on this child, was, in some
measure, a reward for his father's attachment
to me, for he was the same young- man, who,
225
as I have related before, came when I was
struggling with the Greenlander who had at-
tempted to stab me, and had the courage to
ask whether he should help me.
After my return from Greenland, I related
these cures to my friend, the late Counsellor of
State, Guldbrand : he smiled, and, in respect
to the remedies applied, called them miracu-
lous cures.
Chap. XVIII.
The Avenger of his Father, or the Triumph of
Religion.
The murder of a father must be revenged,
however long a period may elapse before ven-
geance can be exercised. A son, about thir-
teen or fourteen years of age, was present when
his father was murdered, which happened about
twenty years before my arrival in Greenland.
He grew up to manhood, was a very active
fisherman, married, and was respected by his
countrymen ; but he was yet too weak to take
G S
226
revenge on the murderer of his father. The
latter was surrounded by a numerous family ;
had three wives ; and was, in many respects,
so superior to his countrymen, that the Danes
called him King.
However, to obtain his end, the injured son,
some years after my arrival, removed, with his
family, far to the south, where most of his
relations lived ; because he hoped to prevail
upon them to accompany him back, and, by
their means, to become formidable to his ad-
versary, and, with their assistance, to execute
his design. He came to them ; expressed his
grief ; painted the murder of his father, of
which he had been a witness, and the dreadful
circumstances which attended it, in the most
lively colours ; and persuaded them to ac-
company him to the north. But they were
obliged to provide themselves with the neces-
sary provisions, which, as well as the variable
weather in the autumn, delayed their voyage.
When he, at last, landed among us, with his
relations, among whom there were some ac-
tive young men, our Greenlanders had long
taken up their winter abodes, and there was no
room vacant. I do not remember whether
bis own house was so decayed that it could not
227
be repaired in a short time, or whether others
had taken possession of it. I had never seen
him before, for his home was on the other side
of the Isefjord ; however, he came to me, and
requested me to let him have a small house,
which belonged to me, a quarter of a mile
to the north of my baptized Greenlanders.
Though I, as well as the whole neighbour-
hood, had heard of the cause of his journey to
the south, and now saw his numerous train, I
granted his request, without saying" any thing
to him upon the subject. In a few days the
house was in an habitable condition, and large
enough for them all. He soon after came, and
thanked me for my kindness.
He came often, and once excused himself by
saying, " You are so amiable, that I cannot
keep away from you." In some of our con*
versations, I profited by his inclination to me ;
but without alluding to what he had upon his
heart. Two or three weeks had hardly elapsed,
when, upon one of his visits, he said that he
should like to learn something about the great
Lord of Heaven, who, as I told him, had
created all things. " Some of my relations
also," said he, " wish to learn." I had no
hesitation in granting his wish 5 and, therefore,
228
went the following day to his dwelling 1 , where
I learned that, for the present, ten or twelve
persons wished to take instruction. The others
said they would wait till they heard whether
it was not too difficult to learn. I had in the
colony a young- man of mixed race, who had
considerable information, and wrote well. I
engaged him as national catechist ; paid him
the first year myself; and introduced him
into this family as their teacher. " He shall
instruct you every day," said I ; " and I will
come to you myself as often as I can, to assure
myself of your progress and your attention."
" We will be attentive," answered they;
" but you must come often, and we will come
to you." I visited them every week, and had
reason to be pleased with their attention and
progress. The timidity of the Catechist vanish-
ed by degrees. He asked my advice in every
difficulty, and gave me a faithful account of
their domestic economy, &c. Once, when the
hour of instruction was concluded, I asked two
old people whether they had also a mind to
learn. The woman answered, " He may,
but I am blind and incapable." "For that
very reason you can learn better than I," said
the man : " you may be all ear, but I am
229
disturbed by the many people who come in
and out." However, these two old people,
and, at last, the whole family, came to be
instructed. Kunnuk (this is the name of the
Greenlander of whom we chiefly mean to
speak) distinguished himself by his continual
application, and extraordinary improvement.
He often neglected his fishery to hear the in-
structions ; but it was also his firm resolution
to be baptized.
Spring approached, and the month of May
was come ; when the following conversation
took place between my Greenlander and me.
He. Will you baptize me ? You know that
I am obedient. I know God ; and my wife,
as well as I, wishes to become a believer.
/. Yes, you know God ; you know that he
is good, that he loves you, and desires to make
you happy ; but he desires, also, that you shall
obey him.
He. I love him ; I will obey him.
/. If you want to obey him, you must kill
nobody. You know that you have often
heard his commandment; " Thou shalt do no
murder."
He seems confounded, and is silent.
230
J. Hear me, good Kunnuk ! I know that
you have come here with your relations to take
revenge on the murderer of your father , but
you must not take revenge on him, if you want
to become a believer.
He (moved). But he murdered my father !
I saw it, and could not help him ; I must now
punish him for his crime.
J. You grieve me.
He. By what ?
I. That you will murder.
He. Only him who deserves to die.
I. But the great Lord of Heaven says, Thou
shalt not.
He. I will not, only him.
J. But you must not kill even him. Have
you forgotten how often you have heard, this
winter, his command Do not revenge thyself?
He. Shall, then, the wicked murder with
impunity ?
I. No, that he shall not ; God will punish
him.
He. When?
J. Perhaps in this world ; but certainly at
the day of judgment, when he will reward
every one according to his deeds.
231
He. That is such a long" delay ; my coun-
trymen and relations will blame me, if I do not
avenge my father.
I. If you did not know the will of God, I
must let you do what your heart suggested :
I must say nothing to your returning evil for
evil ; but now I must not be silent.
He. That is difficult ! What shall I do
then ?
/. You shall not kill him ; you shall even
pardon him.
He. Pardon him ! Your doctrine is very
difficult.
I. It is not our doctrine ; it is Christ's doc-
trine.
He sighs, and is silent.
/. Perhaps, too, your father was not inno-
cent ; perhaps he had also killed somebody,
and deserved to die.
He. That I do not know ; but then this
man also deserves to die.
1. Yes, kill him ; but continue to be an
unbeliever ; but expect that, some day, one of
his children will kill you or your family.
He. Priest, you are no longer amiable!
you speak hard words !
/. Kunnuk, I love you -, and therefore wish
232
that you may not sin against God, who has
had you instructed in his will, and who will
do justice even to your adversary.
He. Stop, then ; I must talk about it with
my relations.
He went ; came home sorrowfully ; spoke
little ; and ate nothing during the whole day.
They observed his unusual ill temper, and
asked him the cause, which he, at last, told
them. I pass over the answer of his relations,
and their consultation, on this subject, for
many days together. The following evening
I went to them, and found them all at home.
Without entering into any thing relative to
the conversation we had had, I chose pieces for
the catechization, and from the Bible, as well
as hymns, which disposed the heart to mild
feelings, and invited it to placability. " Thank
you, Priest I" said Kunnuk, as I departed :
" it was good that you came." Some days
after, he again came to me : his manner, his
countenance, every thing indicated a violent
struggle, as well with his heart, as with his
friends. I first addressed him, saying, " You
are not in spirits ; tell me, what have you on
your heart ?" " I will, and I will not ; I
hear, and I do not hear," answered he : "I
233
never felt so before." "What will you?"
said I ; " and what will you not ?" " I will
forgive him," answered he ; " and I will not
forgive him : I have no ears, when they want
that I shall revenge myself ; and yet I have
ears." " When you will not forgive him,"
said I ; " when you listen with approbation
to those who dissuade you from it ; then your
unconverted heart speaks, which demands re-
venge ; but when you will forgive, when you
will not hear your advisers, then the better
part in you speaks ; then God speaks to your
heart. What will you now do ?"
" I was so moved," answered he, " when
you spoke yesterday evening ; then my heart
wished to obey." " See," said I ; " ought
you not to feel that it is the voice of your
heavenly Father which spoke to your heart ?"
I now repeated to him the latter part of the
life of Jesus ; his forgiveness, his prayer for
his murderers. " That was laudable," said
he ; and a tear sparkled in his eye : " but he
was better than we are." " Yes," answered
I, " infinitely better ; but he will have us re-
semble him in this ; and, if we have only a
g-ood will, God will give us strength ; and we
shall be satisfied with ourselves. But now you
iih
234
shall hear, that a man like you and me could
pray for those who sought to kill him, because
he declared to them the will of God, and
desired them to believe in Jesus." I read to
him the death of Stephen, Acts, chap. vii.
He dried his eyes, and said, " The wicked
men ! He is happy -, he certainly is with God
in heaven." " Yes," continued 1, " that he
is; and you and every body, who acts as he
did, shall also come there." " Good Priest!"
interrupted he ; " my heart is so moved. I
will but, give me still a little time : when I
have brought the other heart to silence, and
am quite changed, I will come again."
" Go," said I, " and pray to the good God,
that he may strengthen you in your resolution ;
I also will pray for you." He went, and my
hope was almost certainty.
At last, he came with a joyful counten-
ance, like him who carries peace in his heart.
" Now I am happy," said he j "I hate no
more-, I have forgiven." "Do you, really, feel
yourself happy by it ?" said I. " Yes," an-
swered he, " my heart is so easy." " You
rejoice me sincerely," continued I ; "but may
I depend upon you ? Your heart will again
excite you to revenge, and your friends will
235
tempt you." "I do not know whether this
will happen," was his answer ; " but I have
conquered, and you may trust me." " It
would be melancholy," said I, "if, after you
had become a believer, you should commit this
murder." " You are so suspicious, Priest!"
he interrupted. " You would now commit a
greater sin," continued I, " than if you had
never known God, and never vowed obedience
to him." M I was rejoiced," interrupted he,
" but your words afflict me." " I will not
afflict you," said I ; " I only want to try you,
whether you are able to keep what you pro-
mise. Do not trust your heart too much !"
" My wicked heart shall be silent," an-
swered he. I now asked him, what had
wrought this change in him ; * ' The energetic
words," answered he, " which Jesus has taught
me, and whom I will follow. I never thought
that I could be disposed, as 1 now am. Did you
not perceive how moved I was, as you read to
me about him on the cross ; how he prayed for
his murderers, Father, forgive them, they
know not what they do ? Then I vowed in
my heart, I, unworthy as I am, that I would
forgive, and now I have forgiven. Now, I
hope you will consider me and my wife, who
236
has never hated, and who, like me, longs
to become a Christian, worthy of baptism ?"
" Yes, good Kunnuk !" answered I, " I
will baptize you and your wife, in God's
name ; but thank God, that he gave you an
opportunity of knowing him, and his will, and
forget not that you are bound in baptism to
believe in him, to love him, and to obey his
commandments; consequently, to leave off
wickedness, and continually to become bet-
ter." " I know it, Priest !" said he ; " God
sees my heart, and he will give me strength
to remain faithful to him." He left me, full
of joy and of gratitude to God. I deferred
the reception of him, and the others, into
our Christian community, for a fortnight ; I
thought it necessary to defer it, particularly on
his account.
The day arrived, the whole of the divine
service had reference to the baptismal act.
He gave an account of his belief in Christian-
ity, with openness and truth ; he answered,
with feeling, the questions from the Altar-book,
and silent tears bedewed his cheeks, when he
knelt down to receive baptism, in which, by
desire, the name of Niels was given him. The
divine service ended, as usual, with a hymn
237
and prayers. He now came, gave me his
hand, and said, " Thank you, good Priest ! I
am happy." Upon this, he turned to the
congregation, of whom some kissed him (this
was unusual). " Receive me now as a be-
liever ! We will love each other." All an-
swered this address with " Yes ;" and now they
went home together, united as persons having
one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. I
thanked God, with heartfelt joy, for the tri-
umph of truth over this heart, and so many
others.
After some days, he sent his enemy the
following message : " I am now become a be-
liever, and you have nothing more to fear."
Upon repeated invitations, the former came
one day with a few attendants. He was re-
ceived in the most friendly manner, treated
with the greatest kindness, and returned home
in peace. Only, when he received him, my
Greenlander said, " I have forgotten it." He
was invited to return the visit ; went, con-
trary to the advice of his friends, without at-
tendants, and was received as a friend. They
ate and spent the time in conversation, till they
parted in the evening on the best terms ; but
when Niels was not far from the shore, he per-
238
ceived water in his Kajak. He hastened to-
wards land, got out, and found that a hole was
cut in his Kajak. He soon stopped it up, pro-
ceeded, and arrived safe home. Some time
after, he told me this, with a smile, say-
ing, " He is still afraid, and has, without
doubt, had this done for that reason ; but I
will not harm him." He remained constant-
ly faithful to his vow. I even received a
message from him, about ten years after my
departure, saying, that he was faithful to God,
and his vow.
Chap. XIX.
The Heathens kill Witches,
Perhaps there may be in Greenland, as
among us, wicked witches, or persons who, by
unmeaning mummeries, would injure others if
they could. Some affirm it. I do not know
it ; but this I know, that innocent persons, on
the accusation of the Angekoks, are not seldom
suspected and treated as witches. These An-
gekoks are generally the very refuse of the
239
people, either unskilful in the chase, or lazy.
Yet, as reputed wise men, who are connected
with Torgarsuk, they possess the confidence of
their countrymen, and often make use of it to
ruin their innocent fellow-countrymen. On
occasion of sicknesses, or death, or of ill success
in hunting-, those, who have met with the
misfortune, ask them, who may be the cause
of it, or who has brought this evil upon them.
Woe then to the old widow without a pro-
tector, or to the old man without grown-up
sons, against whom they have a secret ill will,
or whose property tempts them. They are ca-
pable of long- concealing- their hatred, even un-
der the appearance of friendship ; but they ex-
ecute their vengeance in a cruel manner, when
the measure of sin, according- to their ideas, is
full. They generally proceed in the following
manner : The person accused and condemned
is called out of his house, or his tent, with a
voice with announces to him that he is to
die. He turns pale, but g-oes out notwith-
standing, and his furious accusers now ask
him the following- questions : Are not you an
Illiseetsok ? Did you not kill such a one by
your words or your malice ? If the person con-
demned even answers. No ! his death is still in-
240
evitable ; but in his mortal anguish, he some-
times answers, Yes : hereupon, they stab him
with their knives, cut him to pieces, and every
one eats a piece of his heart, that his ghost may
not return, and frighten them.
In this manner, the heathens, who lived a
little farther to the north, examined and killed
an old man, who had been with me only a few
hours before. He was then cheerful, talkative,
and desirous to know what we were going to
do the following day (Christmas-day), as he
had heard something from the baptized Green-
landers that he did not understand, and had
seen that they were dressed in their best clothes.
" You will not understand me either," said
I, " as you are not acquainted with the great
Lord of heaven and earth ; but we rejoice to-
morrow, because he let his Son come upon the
earth, and teach us how we shall exert our-
selves to become good and happy." " That
is wonderful," said he ; " but give me some-
thing which I can shew to the others when I
return home, and I will tell them what I have
seen and heard." I gave him some bread and
tobacco ; and he left me without the small-
est presentiment of what awaited him. But
hardly an hour had elapsed after his return,
241
when he was called out, and murdered in the
manner above described* 3 .
The following" morning", just as I was
going to begin divine service for the Green-
landers, I was informed that a Greenlander
from the north desired to speak to me. My
congregation was already assembled ; I, there-
fore, desired him to wait till divine service was
over. " No, Priest," said he, " I must speak
to you immediately." When he came in, he
continued, " My father's brother, who was
yesterday with you, was murdered a short time
after he returned home. I could not protect
him ; but I cannot continue to live among
these people. If you will receive us (we are
eight, mostly children), we will remove hither,
and live among the believers, who do not kill
innocent persons." I promised to fulfil his
desire, but it was necessary to examine first if
there were room for them ; and for this he had
to wait. " I will readily wait," said he, " if
we may but come." Some families, who had
more or less room to spare, were willing" to
(43) A son, as we have said above, owes vengeance to bis
murdered father. This is a private or family matter ; but the
murder of witches or sorcerers is an act of justice, due to the
public good.
1 1
242
receive them. I sent him word of it. The
next morning-, we had them all with us, and,
the following year, they were all instructed
and baptized. Soon after, I went to the north,
and, though the heathens do not like to hear
reproofs, I called them severely to account for
their conduct. " You kill wicked people in
your country, I suppose ?" said one. " Yes !"
answered I, " but we first convince ourselves
that they are wicked. The great governor in
our country even gives to a certain man the
commission to defend them, that no innocent
person may die ; but you behave like furious
madmen." " You kill the wicked, so do we.
But that those whom we kill are wicked, we
understand better than you, Priest I" This was
all the answer they returned to my reproof.
243
Chap. XX.
Religion and Superstition of the Greenlanders*
The Greenlanders believe in a Superior Being",
and the immortality of the soul. This Being,
whom they call Torngarsuk, is, according to
their description, rather evil than good. He
cannot be eternal, as he is said to have a great
grandmother, a terrible woman, who rules over
the sea-animals, often summons them to her,
and thus deprives the inhabitants of their sup-
port. Neither is he considered as the creator
of the world, for the world, they think, arose
of itself, and the first Greenlanders grew out of
the ground. Some make Torngarsuk a spirit ;
other say he is like a beast ; others, that he re-
sembles a man. Some affirm that he is im-
mortal ; others, that a certain noise can kill
him. His abode is very deep in the earth,
(44) This chapter, like the others, is taken from ray notes
on Greenland. Hans Egede, my mother's father, has said
almost the same. This agreement must be a security for the
truth of the statements it contains.
244
where living is agreeable, and provisions abun-
dant. So different are their ideas of this being" :
but they neither love nor fear him ; nor do
they adore him 43 . When they are in health,
their fishery successful, and they have nothing
to trouble them in other respects, Torngarsuk
is quite indifferent to them. Only when they
are ill or unhappy, or the sea-animals leave
the coast, they have recourse, not to Torn-
garsuk, but to their Angekok, who is in con-
nection with him. The Angekok then asks
his advice, and brings the answer.
They believe in the immortality of the
soul, and that its state, after death, is better
than the present, and happier for them all ;
for, according to their ideas, they will be all
happy then, without distinction. They, in-
deed, believe that there are two places of
abode after death, one in heaven, the other
under the earth, but both happy : they, how-
ever, consider the subterranean abode as the
happiest, where only those come who have
suffered much distress in this world, or have
done great services to their fellow-creatures ;
(45) But they obey him when they receive orders from him
through their Angekoks.
245
the souls of all the others come into heaven.
The soul is, indeed, of the nature of a spirit ;
but it has something* material about it ; some-
thing delicate and soft, which may be felt.
It may become sick ; and, in this case, the
Angekok can take away the sick part, and put
something" healthy in its room : it may be lost,
and then he can give a new one. The northern
lights are the souls of the deceased, playing at
ball, in heaven 46 .
The Sun and Moon were Greenlanders, and
brother and sister. The sister, the sun, was
extremely beautiful ; and her brother, who
had an illicit passion for her, pursued her every
where. In order to escape from him, she fled
to Heaven, where he still follows her. He is,
besides, a great rogue ; and women cannot be
too much on their guard against him. When
(+6) The Greenland way of playing at ball is a serious com-
bat. Towards the spring, the inhabitants of two large districts
form two bodies ; each tries to catch the great ball, which is
thrown out, and to hinder the adverse party from obtaining
it, which seldom passes without wounds, that are often mortal :
those who get possession of the ball drive off in their sledges,
at full speed. If they secure the ball, they are victors, and
have a right to insult the vanquished, who must bear all their
sarcasms with patience. Formerly, they were obliged to give
Up their most valuable property. Fries.
246
the full moon shines upon the water, the girls
dare not drink of it, for fear of becoming
pregnant 47 .
Air, earth, water, and ^fire, have each their
spirits, who exercise a certain sway, each in
his own sphere. Care must be taken not to
make them angry. A quarter of a mile to
the north of my place of abode, there was a
dangerous place for Kajak-rowers, who were
sometimes upset by an invisible being. In
these cases, fear did the most , and violent
gusts of wind, from the east, the rest.
Apparitions and ghosts are believed in here,
as they are every where. For this reason, they
bind the legs of the dead, while they are still
pliable, up to the hams, and carry them, in
winter, out of a window, or, in summer, out
of the back part of the tent, that their ghosts
may not return. For the same reason as we
have before related, they tear out and devour
the hearts of those whom they kill as sorcerers :
the fear that the spirit of the person killed
should haunt them, is the true cause of this
cruelty. Greenlanders are often drowned in
the chase of seals ; and then their spirits ap-
(47) Water is the beverage of the Greenlanders : they lay
themselves down, and quench their thirst where they find it.
247
pear after death. They are heard to come on
shore, and knock the ice from their Kajaks ;
nay, they are seen to carry them on shore, and
lay them on the places for boats.
The rocks, also, have their spirits, which
are very dangerous, as they even come down
into the houses by night, and steal provisions.
If it is true, as they relate, that individual
Greenlanders now and then, from despair,
leave society for ever, and dwell among the
rocks, it is no wonder if they visit the houses,
especially in winter nights, to find there some-
thing to prolong their wretched existence.
Even some Greenlanders do not look on these
as spirits, but as unfortunate persons, who, by
being insulated from mankind, have become
savage and formidable.
When any one who is accused of sorcery
dies a natural death, he cannot lie quietly in
his grave. A woman, who was accused of
being an Illiseetsok, was buried not far from
my house. Some stones which covered the
grave slipped off; the dogs found the corpse,
and tore off one leg. "So it seems she was
an Illiseetsok," said the Greenlanders.
" Why ?" said I. " Because her bones cannot
lie in peace," answered they. However, I
248 ,
caused the leg- that was torn off to be put in its
place again, and the grave to be repaired.
" He does not believe it," said they.
I have never heard, nor do I remember to
have ever read, any thing that could lead to
the conjecture that they make offerings to
Torngarsuk : they do not esteem him so
much. However, I was informed of an offer-
ing, which nobody in my part of the country
neglected to make upon occasion. On the
road to Erkame, the last inhabited spot on this
side of the Isefjord, there is a large stone, on
which every one who goes by lays his offering,
a little meat, bacon, skin, berries, &c. I often
asked to whom they gave these things : no-
body knew this. " People/' said they, " al-
ways used to do so." This offering must,
originally, have had a meaning : perhaps it
was to conciliate some spirit of the moun-
tains, or the sea ; perhaps to secure the way
backward and forward, and not to be led
astray.
24
Chap. XXI.
The domestic Life of the Greenlander*.
The Greenlanders every year, about Whit-
suntide, leave their then very unclean and
offensive winter habitations, to live in tents,
and soon after go farther to the south, partly
to catch a larger species of hollibut and her-
ring's, partly to carry on barter with the inha-
bitants of the south t they return at Michael-
mas, to repair and dwell again in their houses,
which, during- their absence, have been pro-
perly purified by the air. The men do no-
thing but examine the wood-work, procure
what is wanting, and put it in where neces-
sary. The women, on the other hand, must
provide whatever else is required ; as, for ex-
ample, stones, if a wall built the year before
is sunk, and earth, to fill up the intervals be-
tween the stones. When this is in order, they
cover the walls inside with white skins, pre-
pared and sewed together -, lay the benches ;
put in the windows, which consist of the en-
trails of whitafish, sewed together ; furnish the
K k
250
house with lamps, kettles, chests, tubs, &c.
In this manner, the house looks, at the begin-
ning", very neat ; but the walls become dirty
by degrees, and the floor is made by degrees
so slippery by the seals' blood continually spilt
upon it, that the feet stick to it ; not to speak
of the stench and the carrion flies caused by
the half-picked bones, and the like, which are
thrown and remain under the side benches.
Two, three, or more families generally live
together in one house. Each of them knows
how far it? portion extends ; but there are no
partition walls. The women occupy the right
bench, and the men the side benches : some-
times, however, men are seen on the side
benches ; but with this difference, that they
set their feet on the ground, whereas the wo-
men sit entirely upon the bench. Here they
all sit almost without clothing, the women in
short drawers, about a quarter of an ell long ;
the men in breeches that are rather longer, and
in the usual form. The bench is their bed, but
the married people have their sleeping-place
under it 48 . When the boys have attained the
(48) The bench is not much more than half an ell from
the ground ; but, in building the house, the Greenlanden
make the floor under the bench lower than the other part.
r
251
age of twelve or thirteen, they may no longer
lie upon the bench among- the women, but
have a place to sleep on, under the windows,
where they always remain till they are married.
Notwithstanding their sleeping so mixed to-
gether, and their scanty clothing, no illicit
passion is entertained in their houses. The
married and unmarried, of both sexes, have a
certain reserve towards each other, and a re-
pugnance to every thing that violates decency.
Every individual lives according to his own
pleasure, and independent ; but they all live
in friendship and harmony with each other.
In the morning, the men go out to the chase 5
in summer in their Kajak, in winter in the
sledge. Before they go out, they drink a
draught of water, fill their snuff-box, and put
a quid of tobacco in their mouth. Provided
These people want, besides, but little room ; tbey are little,
without clothing, and require no bed, at the most a seal's skin
under them. In my time, it was generally known that the
married people slept under the bench. Both the Greenland-
ers and the sailors who had Greenland wives spoke of it in
this manner ; and I myself sometimes observed it, on my
journies, when I was frequently obliged to sleep in the houses
of the heathens. The husband, without speaking, made a
sign with bis eyes to his wife, and retired to his place ; she
took no notice, but remained some time after he was gone, and
then followed him.
252
with this, they remain out the whole day with*
out food, often in the severest weather, often
in danger of their lives. He who has caught
a seal, or in the season a whiteflsh, is re-
ceived with joy by his wife. She drag's his
prize on shore, and to the house, in which many
help her, begins immediately to skin it, and
cut it to pieces, and puts them, without wash-
ing off the blood, into the kettle, which already
hangs over the lamp. The man, who, mean-
while, has put his boat, gun, &c. in their right
places, now comes in, takes off his cloak, sits
down, and waits patiently till the meat is
ready. Meantime he relates the adventures
of the day on the chase. If there are any
dried herrings in the house, some are laid be-
fore him on the ground, till the dinner is ready,
and with that, and a draught oi water, he sa-r
tisfies the first calls of hunger. On the other
hand, if he has been unfortunate in the chase,
and there are no dried provisions in the house,
which is often the case towards the end of the
winter, he gets nothing at all, but he lays
himself quietly down to sleep, in hope of bet-
ter success the following day.
While the men are at the fishing places, and
often suffer so much hardship, the women are
253
rery comfortable in their warm houses, if they
have any thing to eat. They chat, cut out,
and sew. They steep skins in the urine-tub,
and, when the hair is loose, they scrape it off.
I could scarcely endure the stench that accom-
panied this work, when I was by chance pre*
sent 5 they themselves do not mind it. By
degrees, when they are thus tanned, they
continue their preparation. If they are to be
white, they bleach them in the sun ; if they
are to be yellow or red, they dye them. The
two last sorts are used for boots, and the first
for cloaks. Skins which are to keep the haif
on, to be used for winter dresses, do not re*
quire so much trouble. The women scrape off
all the fat, or whatever else may adhere to the
fleshy side: after this, they dry them, and
lastly make them pliable by rubbing, before
they cut them out. But the fat which is
scraped off must not be lost. They make a
cake of it, which looks like an omelet, and
must be almost putrid before it is eaten ; it
must, therefore, taste as abominably as it
smells.
The women are nothing lets than cleanly in
their domestic employments. The meat that
is to be eateu is cut into pieces on the floor,
254
and, without cleaning it the least from the
blood and other impurities, put into the ket-
tle, which they wash as little as their dishes
before they use it. The dogs, sometimes, lick
the kettles and dishes, that is all. I have seen
a mother let a child make water in a dish, pour
it out, and then, without farther ceremony,
take the meat out of the kettle, put it in the
dish, and present it to the guests, who eat it
with a good appetite. Haddocks, and other fish,
are dressed and eaten with the entrails. On
one of my journeys, I had had no warm food
for several days : when I received one evening*
two small haddocks, I asked my hostess to
boil them for me for the following morning,
which she very readily did ; but as she set them
before me with the entrails in, I lost all inclina-
tion to touch them, and excused myself as
well as I could.
They boil meat and fish an equal time, so that
when the former is hardly more than half done,
the latter fall to pieces. They do not know
how to roast any thing. It is not true that
they drink train oil. Only in case they have
swallowed down a water-beetle with the water,
and cannot get soon enough to the Priest for
relief, they take some train oil, as an eme-
255
tic, which produces the effect desired, and rids
them of the beetle. This is proof sufficient
that they do not generally drink it. But they
steep angelica stalks in train oil. A woman
chews blubber, spits it out, and continues till
there is enough. In this the angelica stalks
are steeped for some time, then taken out, and
eaten with great appetite, by way of desert.
I must here observe that this, like all the oil
which the Greenlanders use in their lamps, is
unboiled, white, and partly clear. It smells
pretty much like raw pork, and has nothing of
the disgusting smell of boiled train oil, which
they cannot bear even in their lamps.
The mothers lick their children instead of
washing them, and, when they comb their
heads, eat without hesitation what they catch.
" They bite," say they ; " they must be bit-
ten in return." It is also usual for them
to revenge themselves in the following manner
on their tormentors : Grown-up persons wrap
the beard of a quill round a thin stick, and,
while they are conversing with others, pass it
down their back in quest of prey, pull it up
now and then, as fishermen do their lines, and
eat on the spot what they have taken. 1 have
often been obliged to witness this, even in my
256
own house. But, to the honour of our baptized
Greenlanders, be it spoken, with many other
bad habits, they lay aside this also ; at least,
they take great care not to do any thing in our
presence which might offend us.
When the girls are fourteen years old, and
above, they begin to set a value on themselves.
From time to time, they wash their hair, and
the Whole body, in urine. Thus they indeed
become clean j but, as their cloaks are washed
in the same, they smell to us very disagreea-
bly j though to the Greenlanders this smell is
pleasant. Young" married women, who are
rich in their way, and bear children, particu-
larly boys, also wash themselves, chiefly when
they pay visits, or travel. Elderly women, on
the contrary, are not so particular, and be-
come gradually more and more indifferent to
dress. A widow must express her affliction,
not only by her bowed head and unornament-
ed hair, but also by the neglect of hef person
and dress. If, after some time has elapsed, she
begins to look more clean and neat, this is a
proof that she is not indisposed to marry again.
But she cannot entertain any hopes of it, unless
she be young", well behaved, and has borne
children of both sexes, or, at least, sons.
257
An elderly widow in the colony, who was nei-
ther well behaved, nor a mother, fell in love
with a young" fellow, who was the best looking
Greenlander in the place. She spoke to him in
a friendly manner, without his regarding it. As
he did not understand her, she so far disre-
garded the reserve usual in her sex in Green-
land, especially to their own countrymen, that
she courted him. Of course, he gave her a po-
sitive refusal ; but still she did not give up her
hopes. She came very modestly to me, and
told me in confidence that Joergen was a bad
man, who was good for nothing. " I do not
believe that," answered I. " How so ?" " I
am ashamed to say it," continued she, " he
wants to have me." " And you !" asked I.
" I am afraid of him," replied she. " And
for what reason ?" She answered, in a very
low voice, " A few days ago he attempted to
seduce me." " You !" said I : " that is hard to
believe. However, I will send and speak to
him."
I sent for him. He was one of the young
men of the colony whom I the most valued ; of
a good understanding, well behaved, and ac-
tive. He came, and I said, " What is this I
hear of you, Joergen ? You want to seduce
l1
258
Zippora." I !" replied he. " No, Priest, do
not believe her. She is wicked, and would
seduce me ; but I cannot bear her. What
shall I do ?" " You must go away on a jour-
ney for a time,' ' replied I ; " perhaps she will for-
get you. I will also speak to her." Yes," said
he, K I will take a journey. What an impu-
dent woman !" He accordingly went away
for some weeks, in which time his absence, and,
above all, the ridicule of the other women, cured
her. From that time she became again, what
she could not be in the days of courtship, the
afflicted widow, who entirely neglected her
dress.
The Greenland women conceal their preg-
nancy as long as possible, and their delivery is
generally easy : yet difficulties sometimes oc-
cur which require the presence of the Minister.
Their midwives understand about as much as
our village midwives did, before they were
regularly instructed. If the delivery was pro-
tracted longer than usual, the husband hurried
to me, saying, " Priest ! come with me 1 My
wife should be delivered ; but there is no way."
I went with him, made the midwife give me
the necessary information, and gave the patient
every half hour Essentia dulcis> which some-
259
times promoted the delivery : in extreme dis-
tress, I gave thirty drops of oil of juniper in
water, upon which strong and continued pains
succeeded, and then the delivery, without any
bad consequences for the mother or child. In
this country, I dare not apply this remedy, in
such cases ; but happily it is not wanted. In
the severest pains, no loud complaints are heard j
only now, and then a sigh : but every sigh goes
to the man's heart. In silence, and with his
head bowed down, he sits, and accuses himself
as the author of his wife's sufferings.
Chap. XXII.
The Education of the Cheenlanders.
As children, especially sons, are their great-
est treasure, they treat them with much care.
In their earliest infancy they are naked, and
carried upon their mother's back in a large
cloak, which they call Amaut. When they
take notice, she caresses them, and accustoms
their arms to the motion which the Green-
260
lander makes when he rows his Kajak. As
they have no milk food, the children are suck-
led long- ; three or four years perhaps -, but
they sometimes bite their mother's breast se-
verely : she, indeed, expresses some pain, and
pinches the child in the lip, saying-, " You lit-
tle rogue !". but caresses it at the same time.
This pinching* with the nails, once caused a
child to have a cancer in the lip. In vain, I
attempted to check it. The cancer increased,
and ate away all the flesh from the face. The
child was, at length, unable to swallow down
the milk, and died of hung-er.
When the boys are a little grown up, the
father gives them a whip, makes them a little
sledg-e, and trains young- dogs to draw it.
Thus they learn by times to drive, and properly
to manag-e the whip, a manoeuvre which an
European seldom learns perfectly. In a few
years, the father begins, at his leisure hours, to
make a Kajak, and an oar ; and if the prepa-
rations are all made, and the age of the boy
allows it, the father takes him along- with him
in fine weather, keeps him at his side, teaches
him to row, and, after he has had some
practice in this, to throw the dart. When he is
in some measure able to row the broad Kajak,
261
the father makes it narrower, and thus more
liable to upset, but at the same time lighter, and
more manageable. He is now practised to keep
himself in equilibrium with his oar ; for the
oar alone, and the right use of it, preserves the
life of the Kajak rower : if the oar is broken or
lost, he generally perishes. The father some-
times purposely lets him upset in this lighter
Kajak, to make him bold, and to teach him
to employ the oar, which is the means of his
safety. Thus the son learns, at his father's side,
to follow his profession, and in time to gain
subsistence for himself and his family. In the
evening, on their return home, the father praises
his son ; the latter hears the account, pleased
indeed, but ashamed ; seldom speaks of his
deeds without being called upon, and rather
modestly undervalues them. The mother,
however, smiles with pleasure on her son.
As they never punish their children, and
very seldom even reprove them, the conse-
quence is, that they grow up in the habit of
doing what they please, and sometimes refuse
to obey their parents, who, however, are not
angry with them on that account. Such an
education does not seem to promise much good.
We have therefore the more reason to be sur-
262
prised at the different behaviour which they
shew to their parents when they grow up.
Then they respect, and love, and obey them ;
procure them subsistence when they are old,
and are happy to contribute to their welfare.
An aged father never suffers want, as long" as
his son has any thing ; and when the son mar-
ries, his mother, according to the prevailing
custom, superintends the household concerns,
as long as she can, and will, and the son's wife
obeys and serves her. This change of beha-
viour is not a consequence of religion, for the
heathens shew the same. If they are asked
how these capricious children become so good,
they generally answer, " The people (the
inhabitants of the country) are always so."
Who is not reminded by this of the words of
St. Paul ? Romans ii, v. 14 and 15.
Of the education of the girls, there is not
much to be said. They are accustomed to
little domestic employments, according to their
age ; but their life, when young, is more
uniform, conformable to their destination ;
they seem to feel their dependence, and wil-
lingly to submit to it. At a certain age, how-
ever, as has been observed, they begin to va-
lue themselves, to wash and adorn their hair
263
and whole body. They are not indifferent to
the other sex, but never licentious ; unless it
may be if a Dane pays his court to them,
and promises them marriage. Notwithstanding
the difference in their countenances, and their
whole person, there is a mildness in their manner
which soon pleases the sailors in particular :
if they can once accustom themselves to the
smell, the rest follows of course. I knew a
servant of the Company, who was in every
respect a man of good family and education ;
and who, after he had been some years in
Greenland, felt an attachment to his servant
maid, who however was not one of the beau-
ties of the country. He liked the girl, but
not the smell. But, as she came to him every
day, he at last yielded to his passion. He
found a remedy for the odour which was so
disagreeable to him, and made use of it. He
sprinkled her with scented water, first occasi-
onally as she passed him, then more publicly,
which produced the effect desired. He then asked
her hand, and, as may be supposed, did not meet
with a refusal. Their marriage was tolerably
happy, and they had many children ; but the
wife always smelt afterwards of lavender water.
264
Chap. XXIII.
Miscellaneous Information.
+++*+++*
L
Under my windows towards the south,
I made a little garden, and had it surrounded
with a palisade. The ground was rocky, and
the earth not deep enough for the spade, nor
rich enough for vegetation. In the neighbour-
hood I found good earth, and, with the help of
my wife, brought in a basket to our garden
so much as we thought sufficient. We let it
lie till the next year, when I dug it up and
sowed it. It was not till July that the ground
was so far thawed, that it could be dug up :
on the 7th, we sowed it 49 ; on the 15th, the
plants began to shoot up in most of the beds.
So far to the north, and so near the Iseljord,
a garden was an uncommon sight ; but the
uncommonly rapid growth which daily pro-
mised to crown our hopes, was also a singular
(49) But not every year so late. Another year I could sow
on the 30th of June ; one year, even the 7th : but then the
plant did not come up before the 26th.
265
but very agreeable sight to us. Cabbage grew
extremely well. After that time, we had al-
ways a sufficient stock for the winter ; but it
was necessary to sow it very thin, and to pull
up the plants which stood too thick ; as the
short summer did not admit of transplanting
them. Turnips grew as large as a moderate
tea-cup, lost their bitter taste, and became
agreeably sweet : these, too, always throve
well. Carrots in general grew not thicker
than a tobacco-pipe, but preserved their
usual taste. We had plenty of chervil and
cresses : parsley, celery, and beans, would not
grow. I sowed peas ; they shot up vigo-
rously, and sometimes blossomed ; but they
did not produce any thing. I planted pota-
toes, but they grew no bigger than a pea. A
little barley shot up quick, but the early frost
destroyed it. Every autumn I gave my gar-
den a layer of heath ashes, which was very
serviceable to it. In this manner we had, in
some years, both advantage and pleasure of our
little plantation; but the overflowing of the
stream, as I have related in a former chapter,
destroyed the garden, and carried off all the
soil. However, we did not lose our courage
on this account, but began our work anew,
m m
266
and accomplished it with greater trouble than
the first time towards the end of summer, so that
we were able to sow the garden the following
year. But that was the only year that we en-
joyed the fruits of it. We left Greenland, and
almost a year elapsed before my successor
arrived. How he found the garden, which had
been so long without an owner, and what be-
came of it afterwards, is unknown tome.
II.
Both land and sea are covered, during the
greatest part of the summer, with a disagree-
able fog, and in winter, before the ice is hard,
with frozen vapours ; but notwithstanding this,
the climate is healthy, and but few diseases are
known there. The Greenlanders, indeed, some-
times suffer by hemorrhage, which is painful,
but not so contagious, nor so fatal, as among
us. They have, sometimes, spitting of blood.
The latter shortens the life ; with the first they
may suffer many years : during my time, one
died of diabetes. Their external diseases are
particularly swellings, which are dispersed by
plaister of melilot , very bad boils, which, if
they are not sufficiently pressed out, and care-
fully healed, spread from one place to another ;
267
and weak eyes, particularly in old age. How-
ever, they do not grow old even when they die
on the sick bed, and many are drowned. A man
of fifty years of age generally looks as infirm
as if he were near seventy. As the women of-
ten grow older, and at the same age enjoy bet-
ter health, if they do not entirely neglect
themselves, it is probable that the many hard-
ships which the men endure almost daily in
their fishery, are the principal cause of their
early old age and death. Contagious diseases,
however, carry many away, grown-up persons
as well as children. In a foregoing chapter,
I have related the symptoms of them j but I
know not by what name to call them.
If I except the scurvy, the Europeans are sub-
ject to no other diseases which can be ascribed
to the country or the air ; and the remedies
against it are, constant exercise and cochlearia.
As the Greenlanders make no use of this plant,
and are not tormented by this disease, one might
be tempted to think, that kind Providence had
caused it to grow for the Europeans, who are
greatly in need of it. The scurvy is a singu-
lar disorder. It can be a long time in the body
without occasioning any inconvenience, except
a kind of lethargy ; but if the patient does not
268
Use cochlearia, and take daily exercise, especi-
ally in the beginning, he may fall into a
slumber under it, and never more awake.
Sometimes it causes a not unpleasant irrita-
tion, an excitement, if I may call it so, in the
very marrow of the bones, and then it is high
time to apply the remedies, if the use of them
has been neglected. The gums swell, and de-
tach themselves from the teeth, which become
loose, if they do not fall out. When the scurvy
at length breaks out in brown and yellow
spots on the legs and thighs, and makes them
as hard as a board, the patient is generally
saved ; but he must be extremely careful to
use the cochlearia, and take exercise when he has
it in his power. I was not much subject to this
disorder , but, as my daily occupation allowed
me only one or two hours to walk about on
Saturdays, and as I generally suffered in the
winter from another disorder, which hindered me
from taking much exercise ; I was, sometimes,
attacked by the scurvy, and can, therefore,
describe it from experience. One fine day, we
resolved to pay a visit to the Provost Sverdrup,
and, accompanied by a Greenland boy, went
over the isefjord, between the icebergs. While
we were on the way, an iceberg, about half a
269
mile from us, fell, and, in a few minutes, the
solid ice under us broke. " To land ! to
land!" cried the boy, and ran: the Clergy-
man ran with him : of course, 1 would not re-
main behind. But as I was hastening- to get
over a broad cleft, which the falling of the
iceberg had caused, the scurvy held me fixed
to the ice, so that I could not stir from the
spot : I was, therefore, obliged to submit to
my fate, and await the event. After an in-
terval of ten or twelve minutes, I was again
able to walk slowly ; reached the land, at last,
over clefts and pieces of ice ; and gave my
companions a gentle, but well merited re-
proof.
III.
My salary was 150 dollars Danish cur-
rency per annum ; and the allowance of pro-
visions for myself and my wife, was, per week,
ten pounds and a half of bread, three pounds
of butter, two pounds of bacon, two pounds
of stockfish, one eighth of a bushel of peeled
barley, and the same quantity of pease. Be-
sides, fifty dollars per annum were allowed me
for coffee, sugar, brandy, wine, and groceries
in general. It may be easily imagined, that, in
2/0
a country where money is unknown, and the
daily necessaries of life must be procured by
barter, it was necessary to be very economical ;
but it was often impossible. I will say no-
thing 1 of the assistance which the Greenlanders
now and then required ; but the hospitality
introduced among the Europeans, consumed a
great deal. In winter, the servants of the
Company have no employment. They, there-
fore, continually drive from one place to an-
other to pay visits, and at every place, if it is
possible, are joined by new companions, and,
at last, make a caravan ; the true object of
whose journeys is, in fact, to kill time, to en-
joy good cheer in the houses of others, and to
give them good cheer in return, but which has
otherwise great advantages. In the colonies
where there is a clergyman, a merchant and
an assistant, each take part in giving the enter-
tainment, which was thus no great burden to
any of them. I, on the other hand, was alone
at Claushavn, bore alone the cost of the enter-
tainment, but also had alone the honour of
shewing my hospitality. Hence, and from
our limited income, arose the long fasts, which
I have mentioned before, and which others, it
is true, also felt, but not in the same degree
as we.
271
We were, however, never in Want of the
first necessaries of life ; for if the portions al-
lowed were not sufficient, as was often the
case 50 , we could obtain the rest upon account.
But these portions were often very moderate,
sometimes not to be eaten. Among many
causes, a principal one is, that the provision
must be one year in the country before we
dared to touch it. This precaution protected
us against want, in the event of a ship's
being lost ; but the consequence of it was, old
and often bad provisions. One year, in parti-
cular, the bread (or biscuit called skonrogiie)
was so full of spiders and cobwebs, that we
were obliged always to have a whisk by us
when we were eating. The butter was fre-
quently not fit to eat : in our country, it would
have been regarded as common grease. The
bacon and the meat were often rusty and
yellow ; only hunger and custom could
make them go down. Happily, we took the
two last articles seldom, because they promote
scurvy ; and though the butter was often very
indifferent, yet, at other times, it was better,
and we were contented. In winter, we had
no want of fresh provisions. I could, in some
(50) Some part was obliged to serve, instead of money, to
purchase fish, game, &c.
272
measure, reckon upon a hare every week : we
had snow-fowl (ryper) in abundance, and
haddock almost every day. In summer, on
the other hand, we were forced to be content
with young- sea mews, if we wished to taste
fresh meat ; but then, besides haddock, we had
trout, and salmon trout -, the former from the
fresh water lakes, the latter from the mouths of
the streams and rivers. One summer, we went
ourselves to a place, some miles from the co-
lony, to catch salmon trout, and staid there
ten or twelve days. The winter before, my
wife had made two fishing-nets : I and a
Greenlander spread the nets, and attended to
the fishery, while my wife and two maids were
employed in salting- and smoking. Some of
the fish were indeed small, but we caught
them of the weight of eight, nine, and even
of ten pounds, and in such numbers, that we
had enough for our friends in the neighbour-
hood, who could not take part in the fishery
themselves, and had even some to spare for our
friends in our own country.
IV.
The arrival of the vessels from our native
country gave us much pleasure : we then
received news from our relations and friends,
273
the newspapers for a whole year, books, &c;
our wants were supplied, and our fasting- sea-
son ceased. This joy was, however, often
lessened and embittered by brandy and drunk-
enness. The sailors having" been long deprived
of that liquor, were, therefore, not able to
bear so much, and drank more. Nay, I even
saw now and then a Greenlander drunk on
these days, and, to be thoroughly intoxicated
once or twice, is sufficient to destroy the health
of a Greenlander for ever. Disorders some-
times ensue. Thus, two drunken sailors would
once have certainly killed one of the sons of
the Catechist, had not the courage of my wife
saved him in time. Being in the kitchen, she
heard a noise in the room of the man-servant,
and asked a Greenlander who was present,
what it meant : he said, they were angry with
the young man, and were, certainly, going- to
kill him. Without informing" the assistant,
from Christianshaab, and me (which would
have caused a delay, though we were near),
she said to the Greenlander, " Help me to
force open the door !" He did so ; she rushed
in, pushed the drunken men aside, raised the
young" man, who was almost strangled, and
untied his neckcloth, by which he was enabled
n n
274
to breathe freely, and was saved. Now, but
not before, she perceived she was wounded in
the arm, and bleeding* (a third drunken man
had endeavoured to hold the door fast inside,
and prevent her entering-) : she then bound a
handkerchief round her arm, and came after-
wards to us, but did not mention what had
happened. It was not till some days after,
when the worst of these sailors had been guilty
of insubordination, and was condemned to be
sent home, that she related the circumstance.
Such, and similar events, naturally lessened our
joy ; but we did not see the departure of the
ships with indifference. We remained solita-
ry and forsaken. A whole year lay between
us and our country ; we looked forward to the
yet hidden events of a whole year. But these
involuntary feelings were but the feelings of a
moment. What every year made a more last-
ing" impression, was the departure of the Sun,
about the 26th of November.
A few days before, I ascended the rocks at
noon, to behold the Sun once more ; and
when, on the 26th, he just shewed his faint
but mild light, before he vanished for a long
period, I sorrowfully bade him farewel.
The days immediately succeeding were still
275
tolerable ; but, in December, it was twilight
even at noon. At that hour, I could scarcely
read a book, when standing* at the window.
Of course, the candles were always kept burn-
ing. The rivulet roared, the stormy sea
beat against the rocks, on which my dwelling
stood, and frequently dashed its spray against
the windows : the dogs howled 51 . I was often
indisposed. In short, every thing combined
to make these weeks unpleasant : but I found
that employment is a sure remedy against
ennui, and, weak as I was, I had, both morn-
ing and evening, employment enough. When
I travelled at Christmas to Christianshaab,
we were assisted by the light of the Moon, if
the sky was clear, and by the cheerful nothern
lights, which often seemed to float close by us.
The reader may conclude from this, with what
heartfelt joy we saw the Sun return. On the
12th of January, if the weather was fine,
we could see its light on the high rocks, and,
on the 1 3th or 1 4th, I saw himself, glorious,
(51) The Greenland dogs do not bark loud, but only growl
sometimes ; but tbey howl every day at certain hours. They
then assemble in troops, and turn their snouts up in the air.
At first, this howling is abominable and deafening; but, after-
wards, one gets used to it, and even finds it amusing. It lasts
about a quarter of an hour; after which the Company breaks up.
276
and as if new created, but only for a few
moments. We now felt as if we had conquered
all the troubles of the year, as if we had re-
covered health and life. Our thoughts seemed
more clear ; hope looked forward to spring",
slimmer, and ships all happy prospects : we
even seemed to breathe more freely. Here
(in Denmark) we value too little the daily
presence of the Sun, because we are never
deprived of it. When we complain of the
short days in December, let us think on the
dark days in Greenland, and thank God for
the December light.
According to the ordinance of the Creator, an
indemnity was due to us for the long absence of
the Sun, and we obtained it. After the 24th of
May, he did not again set at night, rose till the
summer solstice, higher and higher, and then
declined a little every night ; and, about the
20th of July, dipped again, at night, under the
horizon. This dipping was, at first, imper-
ceptible ; only the night frosts put us in mind
of it. It would scarcely be believed, that
water which was boiled on the 24th of July
(which was a very warm day), at five o'clock
in the afternoon, could be covered with a
crust of ice at eleven o'clock the same evening;
277
and yet this was the case. I saw both the
boiling- of the water, and the ice upon it.
The Greenlanders and the Europeans gene-
rally travel by night, while the Sun is up ;
for then the sky is clear, the air generally
calm, the coolness agreeable. The days, on
the contrary, are foggy, the heat violent, and
the blood-thirsty gnats a real torment. To-
wards the solstice, it seems to me that the
Sun, both in its height in the sky, and its
warmth, is much the same as in this country
at noon in December. It was a fine sight to
behold him proceed from the west to the north,
thence to the east, and again reascend from
the east in majesty and splendour. The daily
change of heat and cold, or at least coolness,
after sunset in summer, deserved more atten-
tion, in respect to clothing, than we thought fit
to pay to it. However, few seemed to suffer
by their indifference.
V.
A violent storm from the south-east occa-
sioned a Greenlander to come to me. "It is
terrible weather," said he. " Yes," answered
I, u it is good that all the Kajaks are come
278
home." " This night," continued he, "I
dreamt that the air and sea became so stormy ;
it was a strange dream." " How so ?" asked
I. " It appeared to me," answered he, " to
blow violently from the south-east; the sea
was greatly agitated ; the heavens moved ; and
the earth quaked. Upon this, the heavens
opened, and I saw our Redeemer. He was
extremely glorious to behold : his eyes resem-
bled the Sun, but I did not see any body.
When he appeared in the air, I heard a loud
noise ; the earth was broken into pieces, and
sunk into the abyss. Upon this, it appear-
ed to me as if every body was brought before
him. The multitude was very great : and I
heard him say to the believers, Fear not ; I am
come to redeem you ! I now awoke, full of
astonishment and terror at what I had seen
and heard, awaked the others in the house,
and related to them my dream. Now, as
there is such a terrible storm to-day, they are
all much afraid, particularly my wife. Tell
me, Do you think that the world shall now be
at an end ?" He waited for my answer, in
order, as he said, to be able to satisfy his fa-
mily, by my words, and received it.
279
VI.
I was for a fortnight constituted Bishop,
of which the following" was the occasion. A
young Clergyman, who supported himself and
his family by giving private lessons, in a
town in Fiihnen, met with Hans Egede's ac-
count of Greenland. He had scarcely read
it when Egede's spirit, as it were, animated
him ; he wished also to serve in Greenland,
and follow Egede's steps. With this inten-
tion, he wrote to the younger P. Egede, to
be employed in the Mission ; but received for
answer, that there was no room for a Semi-
narist, and that it would be difficult for him,
as a married man, to live at Copenhagen,
while he was preparing himself, as far as pos-
sible, for the office of a Missionary. Dissatis-
fied with this answer, he travelled to the capi-
tal, and presented himself to the Missionary
College, which he entirely gained in his fa-
vour. He said, that it was the same to him
whether he went to Greenland as a Clergyman
or a Catechist, if he only went there, and could
be of service. He was sent to me, for the pur-
pose of becoming a Catechist at Christianshaab,
because they thought that I should do justice to
280
his merit ; and recommended him to my care
and direction, adding- that, from a particular
and remarkable impulse, he had desired to be
employed in the Greenland Mission ; and that
it would depend upon my testimony the fol-
lowing year, whether the College would pro-
pose him to his Majesty as a Missionary. As
he was wholly unacquainted with the lan-
guage, a year would, certainly, not be suffi-
cient for him to learn something himself, and,
at the same time, give proofs of his ability to
instruct others : however, I cannot deny him
docility, and attention to my advice. After
the lapse of a year, I gave him a good testi-
mony j the College expected it so. I wrote,
indeed, nothing more than the truth, but every
thing- that I could write with truth ; and the
consequence was, that, the year following-, this
College gave him the appointment from his
Majesty of Missionary, and sent me the order
to examine and ordain him ; to place him as a
regular teacher at the colony at Christianshaab,
in order, as it was said, to give me some relief
in my many official journies to that place,
which journies were, probably, the cause of
my continued indisposition. However kind
this appeared to be, the real cause was, that no
281
Missionary place was vacant, and it was deter-
mined that the man should be employed, and
act independently ; for, when he was removed
some years after, to Egedesminde, I was obliged
again to take upon me the colony at Christ-
ianshaab. I had lately been ill, and, there-
fore, refused to take upon me this labour,
which now no longer concerned me ; but they
did not cease to persuade me, and I was forced
to give way.
The preparation, as well as the act itself,
were performed entirely according to the Ri-
tual, and the other regulations. The inhabi-
tants of the colony, the crews of the ships,
and the Greenlanders, had never seen the con-
secration of a Priest. It pleased them very
much, but no part of it gave them such extra-
ordinary satisfaction as the Latin mass, of
which they did not understand a word. I had
translated those prayers, which, in this case,
seemed to be the best ; but both my colleague,
whom I had requested to be present at the or-
dination, and he who was to be ordained,
were of opinion that I was not entitled to take
this liberty. Some days after the ordination,
I gave him his appointment, introduced him,
as Provost, the next Sunday, and sunk back
o o
282
to what I really was, and what I may still feel
a certain satisfaction in remembering- to have
been 52 . After a residence of a few years, our
man left Greenland, was well received, obtain-
ed, as a reward, a good living in a town in
Jutland, became Provost, and died.
VII.
The Greenland children are as white when
they are born as ours ; but they have a blue
spot in the skin, upon or above the loins,
about three quarters of an inch in diameter.
When they grow up, this spot extends gradual-
ly over the whole body, and is, perhaps, the
cause of the rather darker colour of it. I had
often an opportunity of seeing these spots, as
the Greenland women, at the time of my
arrival, brought their new-born children, ac-
cording to the custom, naked, to be christened.
(52) Soon after our return from Greenland, we were invited
to a family party, in which there was one of my early friends.
The company wished to know something about Greenland,
and our adventures there ; and we related. In the middle of
the conversation, my friend whispered in my ear (but loud
enough to be heard), with much self-complacency : " But, did
you do any good in Greenland Y' I cannot describe my feel-
ings at this question, only I remember that I left it unan-
swered.
283
Though we daily saw naked children, yet
this nakedness was very disagreeable to me
in a religious ceremony. My wife, therefore,
made a decent christening-dress, which was
put on every child that was to be baptized.
On such occasions, when she spread a hand-
somely embroidered altar-cloth, of nankeen,
over the table, procured and made by herself,
lighted 53 the candles for the communion,
and daily carried, with the servant, before
and after school-time, the benches in and out,
or, when I was absent or ill, dressed the wound-
ed, and, after my direction 3 *, gave them me-
dicine ; or, in the hardest winters, distributed
bacon and meat to poor widows and children ;
I called her, with a certain sacred pleasure,
The Servant of the Church. The good Phebe
(Romans, chap, xvi, verse 1 and 2) scarcely
deserved this name more than she.
VIII.
The Green Islands, which lie about eight
miles from Claushavn, and which I often visited
on my journies of business to the south, have
(53) Namely, of a Sunday.
(54) I was the Doctor. She wa, with all her good will,
only my assistant.
284
some resemblance with Denmark. The rocks
are not high, but green, and covered with
grass, like the vallies. The eye dwells with
pleasure on this verdant carpet. The shore is
covered with what is called silver sand, of
which we always took home a good quantity.
It does not shine as our silver sand does, but
it contains particles of iron ; and I must be
much mistaken if these rocks do not contain
iron. Perhaps they would deserve to be more
accurately examined, especially as Norway
does not belong to us now.
IX.
The island of Disco has coals, the veins of
which are said to extend far into the sea. They
are not of the usual kind, but are lighter,
more flaky -, and do not give, indeed, such a
strong heat as the English, but burn clear,
and have not the disagreeable smell that
coals generally have. Shortly after my return,
it is said to have been proposed to examine
and open these mines, and, at least, to procure
from them sufficient fuel for the supply of the
colonies ; but I do not know whether the pro-
posal was carried into execution, or whether the
produce would pay for the expense.
285
X.
Angelica grows on Disco island, and there
only in the whole bay. The Greenlanders
use, particularly, the stalks, and put them, as is
mentioned above, in fresh blubber, which they
chew and then spit over it ; and we use, espe-
cially when we visit the sick, or on other occa-
sions, the dried roots to chew. The former
relate that a gTeat enchanter, in ancient times,
came in his Kajak, and towed the island of
Disco, from the south into the bay, merely for
the sake of this plant, of which the people in
this country were in want. They even shew
a hole in a rock, in which he fastened his
tow-rope. It is very singular that the Green-
landers call this plant, as the Norwegians do,
Qvane ; perhaps they have the name from the
ancient Norwegians.
XI.
I sometimes botanized, and had several good
and well preserved specimens of the plants in
the neighbourhood ; but as I was not versed in
the science, and my collection was not com-
plete, I left it to my friend and neighbour,
Provost Sverdrup, who had a beautiful Her-
286
barium ; and he found, among the plants which
I had gathered, several varieties, though they
had grown so near to his own. My old friend
Professor Fabricius has communicated much
interesting information in this branch, as well
as in many others, relative to the Natural
History of Greenland, in his Fauna Gronlan-
dica, which is known and esteemed in foreign
countries.
XII.
His Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince
Frederic had graciously given orders, that the
Captain of a whale-ship should touch at the
colony of Claushavn, and take me and my
family with him, and treat us in such a man-
ner, as he could answer for at his return.
But the Directors had, at the same time,
fixed his departure from Greenland, which
was necessary, on account of the plan that
they had then in view. It was, that the
captain, after his return home, should be
back in Greenland before the beginning of the
winter, in order to winter there, and be able
to go out so much the sooner in the spring, on
the fishery. Unluckily, the ice lay this year
long in the gulph ; time passed away, and he
287
was obliged to sail home without being* able to
reach us. I had been very weakly the preced-
ing winter, and the return to my country, for
which I really wished, was necessary for my
health ; I was consequently very much dis-
couraged for some moments, when I heard that
my hopes were disappointed. I now, for the
first time, saw my wife very sorrowful, and un-
resolved, when she thought on the future ; but
nothing was to be done here, but to resign
ourselves up to the will of Providence. In the
meantime, to keep up her spirits, I said, "We
will make a journey to Holsteinburg: per-
haps we shall meet there with a ship, and then
we can go home ; if not, we shall revive our
spirits among our friends, and collect strength
for the approach of winter.' * I made my re-
solution known to Provost Sverdrup, who
approved it, and also promised, that he and my
catechist would take care of my mission till my
successor arrived. He also promised, that he
and his wife would accompany us some miles
on our intended journey. Those of my Green-
landers who were still in the place, as soon as
they heard of my resolution, declared that they
would not lose me. But the day for our de-
parture came : I still remember the moment
288
when I got into the boat, after having taken a
most cordial leave of them. They all stood
there with tears in their eyes, as if forsaken :
even my old, honest assistant, the Catechist.
I looked at them, not without some self-re-
proach, but necessity commanded. 1 prayed
for God's blessing" on all present and absent, and
ordered the boat to put off from shore ; but I
did not feel at ease.
We arrived at Egedesminde: my worthy
friend could not accompany us any farther ;
but he absolutely would not permit me, as it
was my intention, to travel without any com-
panions 55 . His care procured us a family, who
were going a part of our way to the hollibut
fishery ; and the company of this family, next
to God, was our deliverance. Our last fare-
wel was affecting and cordial. Both of us
felt that we should miss each other 56. My
(55) He had already ouce travelled this way, and knew bet-
ter than I, what might happen to me.
(56) Provost Jbrgen Sverdrup, a man of an enlightened
mind, possessed much solid knowledge, and a noble, warm,
and faithful heart. He was in Greenland six years before me,
and remained there some years after me. I owe very much to
him, and his disinterested friendship. T learned, particularly
from him, and by attending to his performance of his func-
tions, what it was to be a minister in Greenland, In Norway
289
women's boat was indeed heavily laden with
our most necessary things, in case an opportu-
nity should offer to return home ; but the very
mild weather gave us courage to pass over
a creek about a mile broad, without keeping
close in shore. This was in itself no great
risk, if there had been nothing else in the way ;
but in sailing into the creek, we had touched,
though very gently, upon a shoal. The col-
lision made a hole in the bottom of my boat,
it let in water, and continually became hea-
vier. The others, in the women's boat, which
was ahead of us, called out to us, when we
were in the middle of the creek, " You are
sinking !" They turned round, laid their
boat alongside of us, and s\id, " Come in,
Priest, with your wife and son, or else you will
be gone." " Shall we then be saved ?" asked
I : " shall all these people, who on my account
are in the same danger, perish ? I will not pur-
chase our lives so dearly, but will quickly
throw all my things overboard, and thus the
boat will be lightened." " No ! no !" cried
he did good, and spread happiness, as he had done in Green-
land. Summoned home, he enjoys now the blessed reward of
fidelity.
P P
290
they. " Come ! we can take so much into
our boat, that they may lade out the water :
if we then immediately take it in tow, there
will be no danger ; because, if the boat at
last sinks near the shore, we can save the peo-
ple." During this conversation, a part of my
goods were already taken into their boat, and
we immediately got into it. The steersman
unladed the water, the women rowed, the others
towed, and so we reached the land within a
cable's length, when my boat sunk. The peo-
ple escaped unhurt ; but the things which were
still in the boat were so soaked by the water,
that we were obliged to stop a whole day to
dry every thing, even the books, upon the
rocks. As soon as this was done, as well as
circumstances would admit, and our boat re-
paired, we again put off from shore, and at
last arrived at Holsteinburg, where we were
received with sincere joy ; and during the space
of some weeks, we enjoyed here, in a circle of
relations and friends, many pleasures that re-
freshed us, both in body and mind.
A small fishing vessel had been in the har-
bour, and was expected to return before its
final departure : it came, and the captain was
291
willing" to take us with him. On the 23d of
August, we took the tenderest leave of our
friends, and went on board. The wind was
favourable, the anchor was weighed, we were
soon in the open sea. For the most part, the
wind was pretty good, but sometimes violent.
If I except, that my wife was the whole time
sea sick, and that I myself one day, when the
sea ran high, was nearly washed overboard,
by venturing" to a place where I had nothing
to do, we met with no remarkable accident
before we reached Hetland. For several days
we had not seen the sun at noon, and therefore
did not exactly know where we were. The cap-
tain, the pilot, and two or three sailors who
had passed examination as pilots, pricked a
chart, and it appeared afterwards that they
were tolerably correct. On the 20th of Sep-
tember, the captain said to me, " According
to our reckoning, we must see Hetland to-day.' '
Towards noon, we in fact g"ot sight of land ;
but, in the fog", it looked like a little island in
the clouds. The captain maintained that it
was Hetland ; the others doubted it, and took it
rather to be the Orkney Islands. The majority
of voices was followed, and the course chang-ed
292
accordingly ; but the captain at the same time
put a sailor in the mast, and another in the
forepart of the ship, to be on the look out, and
to give notice. At four o'clock in the after-
noon, while the captain was sitting- in the cabin,
with his chart before him, the two sailors cried
out, " We are close to land !" The captain
was on the deck as quick as lightning, and I
followed him to learn our situation. Hetland
lay before us ; but it was on the east side,
which is a perpendicular wall of rock, and from
this we were scarcely two cables length distant,
and besides surrounded with numerous shoals.
The captain immediately gave orders to tack,
and the heavy laden ship obeyed the helm with
astonishing quickness. We tacked between the
shoals, and came, God be praised, again into
the open sea. Ten minutes later, it would have
been impossible to save us. The captain's
reckoning was therefore the most correct ; the
opinion of the majority is not always to be
depended on. On the following morning,
we took the course which he was going to take
the day before, namely, to the west of Het-
land, and came, with variable winds, through
the North Sea by Skagen 57 , cast anchor off
(57) A little town on the north point of Jutland. Fries.
293
Gilleleie 58 , and on the following 1 day off Horn-
bek 58 , where we let ourselves be put on shore,
as the wind continued unfavourable. On the
evening of the same day (the 3d of October) we
came from Elsinore to Copenhagen, where I
was received by most of my superiors with
evident coolness.
(58) Fishing villages on the north coast of Zealand ; the lat-
ter about a mile and a half from Elsinore. Fries.
The, end.
J. CompN.n, Printer, Middle Strtrt, cloth Fair, London.
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