8 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 



Moravian Mission, the members of which left the 

 country in 1 900. The Mission had been established 

 in Greenland about two centuries. We reached 

 Holsteinsborg (Map A^ H; just within the Arctic 

 Circle) on June 30. The houses of the Settlement, 

 which has about 300 inhabitants but no resident 

 doctor, are scattered among the rocks of the foot- 

 hills overlooking an excellent harbour. A few of 

 us went ashore to botanise, and, after wandering 

 a short distance over the hills and across patches 

 of snow lying on the edge of the lower swampy 

 ground, we discovered how easy it is to lose oneself 

 completely in a trackless country only a mile or 

 two from a Settlement. At a height of about 300 

 feet I picked up an almost perfect shell of a sea 

 urchin, one of several found in similar situations; 

 these had probably been dropped by sea birds. 



The departure from a Settlement is accompanied 

 by protracted leave-taking; a long interval elapses 

 between the first intimation of sailing and the 

 actual weighing of the anchor. Social as well as 

 business affairs are conducted with deliberation; 

 there is no indecent haste. In Greenland, it is 

 sometimes said, 'one hurries slowly.' 



On July 2 we arrived at Egedesminde (lat. 68 

 N.) where we left the 'Bele' to continue her voyage 

 further north to Upernivik (lat. 73 N.), which 

 was never reached. On Sunday, July 3, a special 

 service was held in the church in celebration of 

 Hans Egede's Day. The pastor, at whose house 

 we were hospitably entertained, told me that since 

 ordination he had lived twenty-six years in Green- 



