LEAVING GREENLAND. 445 



Being on my way home, I had Httle occasion to avail 

 myself of this gracious act of the Danish Govern- 

 ment; but I informed the Inspector of my future 

 purposes and signified to him my desire to avail my- 

 self of its privileges next year. I am glad of an op- 

 portunity publicly to express my admiration of the 

 conduct of the Danish Government toward the Arctic 

 expeditions of whatever nationality ; and in my own 

 case it was the more personally gratifying, and the 

 more highly appreciated, that I had no "Depart- 

 ment " orders wherewith to back up my claims to 

 consideration. 



From the Chief Trader, Mr. Anderson, as well as 

 from the Inspector, I had much kindly assistance in 

 perfecting my collections and in completing my series 

 of photographic views, and I found myself so agree- 

 ably as well as profitably occupied that I was truly 

 loath to quit the good harbor ; but it was necessary 

 for me to be hastening home, as the nights were 

 growing dark, and I did not wish to be caught among 

 the icebergs without some sunHght to guide me ; so, 

 when the first fine wind came, I huddled my col- 

 lections aboard, bade good-by, saluted the Danish 

 ensign for the last time, and — well, we did over 

 again what we had done a dozen times before — dove 

 into a villainous fog-bank, out of which came a rush 

 of wind that sent us homeward a httle faster than 

 we cared to go. 



It was a regular equinoctial storm, and, from the 

 time of leaving Disco until we had passed Newfound- 

 land, it scarcely once relaxed its grip of us. We 

 were blown out through Davis Strait even more 

 fiercely than we had been blown in. At one time we 

 were beset with a perfect hurricane, and how the 



