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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