276 IMPORTANCE' OF DISKO 



and carried the spoil on board iiis ship in triumph. No 

 opposition could be made ; the poor people therefore 

 submitted, being informed that England and Denmark 

 were at war. No inquiry was ever instituted on the subject, 

 and restitution, I believe, never made to the persons so 

 plundered. A schooner and a small sloop are the only 

 Danish vessels usually seen at Lievely, and they are kept 

 for the purpose of collecting the produce of the miserable 

 trade at present existing there. It may therefore be in- 

 sisted that little difficulty can lie in the way of obtaining 

 the transfer of Disko from the Danes, as it appears to 

 them rather a burden than a benefit, and a trifling equiva- 

 lent must be sufficient to satisfy their claim regarding it. 

 The unwillingness of that government to maintain a con- 

 nexion with Greenland has appeared invariably in every 

 period of its history ; and the placing of the poor Uskees 

 under the advantages of the EngUsh constitution will be 

 to them the greatest blessing. This I mention with the 

 greater confidence from the partiality Avhich they even now 

 evince towards the crews of British ships, and their hesi- 

 tating not to express their dislike of the Danes. 



The natives of Greenland will have a strong inducement 

 to accept of such a change, as the importation of English 

 cloth amongst them will help to increase their comforts. 

 The coarsest kind will be acceptable to them, and their 

 industry will be encouraged to provide for the market the 



