364 UPERNAVIK. 



in searching for the hero with whom, in his youth, he 

 had shared the perils of the wilderness ; and now, in his 

 old age, he was going to face a wilder form of perils on 

 the ice-laden waters of the Polar Sea. Another of the 

 men had travelled with Dr. Rae, on his first expedition 

 to Repulse Bay ; and another had accompanied Sir 

 John Richardson in his boat journey through the inte- 

 rior of America. Lady Franklin herself was present to 

 see the vessel off. She took an affectionate leave of 

 officers and crew ; and the Prince Albert bounded from 

 the shore and stretched out into the wide Atlantic, the 

 Union-Jack at her peak, and the French flag, in honor 

 of Lieutenant Bellot, flying at the fore. 



On Sunday, the 24th of June, they descried the coast 

 of Greenland on the distant horizon. In Baffin's Bay 

 they were visited by the captains of two whaling-vessels, 

 who created great excitement by telling them of the 

 discovery of Franklin's winter quarters in 1845, with 

 the details of which the reader is already acquainted. 

 This information induced Kennedy to direct his course 

 to Upernavik, the Danish colony on the west coast of 

 Greenland, partly for the purpose of taking in additional 

 supplies for the use of the winter travelling parties, but 

 chiefly with the hope of gaining further information of 

 the recent discoveries, from the American searching 

 vessels which had wintered in the pack. In this, how- 

 ever, he was disappointed. 



Of Upernavik, which he reached June 10th, 1851, 

 Kennedy says : " It is one of that interesting group of 

 little colonies with which the enterprise of the Danes 

 has dotted the west coast of Greenland. Here, con- 

 siderably within the Arctic Circle, we found a Christian 

 community, not only living, but, after a fashion, thriv- 

 ing. We were informed by the governor that there were, 

 even at this early period of the season, one thousand 



