GEEEKLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE COAST. 



THE coast of Greenland is visited by the whaling ships 

 which annually make their voyages to the icy seas of 

 Davis' Strait and Baffin's Bay ; lately by the different ex- 

 ploring vessels sent by the English and American govern- 

 ments to search for Sir John Franklin and his missing 

 companions ; and by the Danish ships which, during the 

 navigable season, are dispatched to supply the settlements 

 scattered along the coast with a renewed stock of pro- 

 visions, and to carry back to Denmark the products of 

 Eskimo hunting and fishing. 



Greenland belongs to Denmark, and its trade is mono- 

 polized by the government, the Royal Danish Company 

 yearly sending out ships freighted with European goods 

 and provisions, and bringing back skins of the reindeer, 



131 



