23SSJ DESCRIPTION OF GREENLAND. 



one with whose history we are acquainted, and the whole of 

 Greenland is, as I have already informed you, larger beyond 

 comparison than that which the Norwegians, Danes, and 

 English have discovered. 



At the beginning of this history I proposed to lay before 

 you two points : first, that it is not certain that Greenland 

 is part of the continent of Asia on the side of Tartary ; and 

 secondly, that it is part of the continent of America. As re- 

 gards the first, I must tell you that they have not yet been 

 able to penetrate the ice of Nova Zembla, to see if there is a 

 passage by that way into the eastern sea, and that, up to the 

 present time, that passage has been in vain attempted by 

 the most determined sailors of whom we have heard. This 

 navigation, which has discouraged the best pilots of the north, 

 has limited their expeditions to Spitzbcrgen, which the Danes 

 reckon in the country of Greenland, where is the great whale 

 fishery, and whither our Biscayans and the Dutch make voy- 

 ages every year. I must here tell you what the Grand Master 

 of Denmark told me of this land and sea. He was not content 

 with informing me verbally, but was so good as to send it me 

 in writing, and some day I hope to show you his letter, which 

 I preserve as a proud mark of his favour and generosity. 

 But why am I talking of showing you his letter ? I hope you 

 will soon see His Excellency himself, for we have just heard 

 that he has left Copenhagen to go to France as ambassador 

 extraordinary from his master, the king of Denmark. He 

 is gone, with his wife, the Countess Eleanor, daughter of 

 the king of Denmark, whose worth is equal to her noble 

 birth, and who possesses her share of royal virtues. This is 

 the hero whose qualities I described to our dear friend, M. 

 Bourdelot, when I told him of "svhat was passing at the Bridge 

 of Brensbro,^ where the celebrated conference took place be- 

 tween the plenipotentaries of Sweden and Denmark for the 



^ The treaty of peace at Bromsbro or Bromsebridge, between Calmar 

 and Carlscrona, in 1645. 



