APPENDIX III 379 



By all of them we were made welcome in the most 

 cordial and hospitable way. They were exceedingly 

 kind and courteous, and showed us every possible con- 

 sideration as long as we were their guests. The memories 

 of Upernavik and the good people there are among the 

 pleasantest of the four years of the expedition. 



A SUMMER IN A DANISH GREENLAND TRADING-POST 



When Doctor Hunt and I reached South Upernavik, 

 a little Danish trading outpost along the west coast of 

 Greenland in latitude 72° 20' N., we were confronted 

 by open water that prevented our continuing, at the 

 time, our way further south, to a port where we might 

 meet the first Danish steamer. For over a month we 

 were forced to stay at the home of the factor waiting 

 for colder weather and new ice. Such unfavorable 

 conditions as those of January and February of 1917 

 had not been known in midwinter for years — tempera- 

 ture at freezing, rain and fog every few days, warm 

 foehn winds, and open water far into the fjords; the 

 Eskimo could kill little game, and because their re- 

 serves were very small, they were soon on the verge of 

 starvation. 



When finally cold weather came again and new ice 

 formed on the fjords, the dogs in South Upernavik and 

 the neighboring village, Proven, were in such wretched 

 condition that it was next to impossible to obtain enough 

 to take us on our farther way. Doctor Hunt and I 

 agreed that for both of us to attempt to go might so 

 retard our travel that neither would succeed. In such 

 an eventuality, the messages we carried to America, 



25 



