 .. kek 
GREENLAND. 438 
: foreign countries. The religious zeal of the venes They speak the same language as the inhabitants of Greenland. 
a See ae clergyman, Hans Egede, by degrees at- Labrador and part of Hudson’s Bay, aud their mode Pr ea 
i, tached the Greenlanders to the Danes: the uninterrupt- of tye is very similar. They are probably spread o 
over Bhering’s : 
a ed communication with the Greenlanders made the Danes 
cquainted with the language of the country ; and as the 
ns began to feel the want of some European articles, 
a commercial intercourse was established. The trade was 
always a monopoly, undertaken at first: by a company of 
merchants, and ards conducted on account of the 
vernment. Each settlement is managed by a trader and 
his assistant, both of whom are paid by the government. 
‘These officers and their workmen are subjected, besides 
the Danish law-book, to another regulation of trade, cal- 
led Instruction. The general inspection of the trade, and 
the administration of the laws, is placed by the king un- 
der the care of two governors, or oo inspectors, one 
of whom resides at Godthaab in South Greenland, the 
other at Godhavn (Good Harbour) on Disko island. 
Their power is very extensive, but is restricted to the set- 
tlements ; the natives being without laws, except such 
individuals as are in the pay of the Danish government. 
The trade and the navigation to the colonies is governed 
by the royal direction of the Greenland trade at Copen- 
hagen. The Danish missionaries, their installations, 
functions, and residences, are settled by the royal Danish 
college for converting the heathens. The Moravian 
Brethren there are under the immediate direction of the 
Unitas Fratrum of Herrnhut,in Germany. 
The exports from Greenland are, feathers and eider- 
down, horns of the sea unicorns (Monodon monoceres,) 
skins of seals, of the blue and white foxes, white bears, 
white hares, and rein-deers, whale-bone and blubber, or 
oil of every kind. 
The imports directly from Copenhagen to Greenland 
are, guns, powder and shot, all kirids of iron-mongery, 
icularly knives, files, axes, needles, nails, arrow-heads, 
tha and hosiery ; articles of luxury for the women, such 
as cottons, ribbons, gloves, looking-glasses, snuff-boxes ; 
tobacco is an article in great demand everywhere. They 
are also anxious to obtain rye-bread, barley, tea, coffee, 
beer, and brandy, The latter article, however, is strict- 
ly prohibited from being sold, or even given to any 
Greenlander. Every spring, in. the beginning of May, 
five or six vessels go out from Copenhagen to Greenland 
with the articles of trade for the natives, and the neces« 
saries and comforts of life for the Europeans. The car- 
of these vessels may be calculated at 65,000 rix- 
follars (£18,000 sterling.)’ The value of the produc- 
tions carried to Copenhagen may amount, on an ave-~ 
rage, to 85,000 rixdollars (£17,000 sterling.) But the 
communication between Greenland and Copenhagen was 
entirely suspended for five years, in consequence of the 
‘war between Great Britain and Denmark. The build- 
‘ings and stores of the Greenland company have suf- 
fered very much, from not having been repaired, in con- 
quence of the want of timber and other materials ; and 
it is now su: that the establishments will be redu- 
ced to a ler scale. ; 
The natives inhabiting the western coast of Greenland, 
from the 59th to the highest north, belong to the 
Mongolic race of mankind. They were called Skrel- 
Jingar by the old Icelanders and Norwegians, on account of 
‘their little stature; but they call themselves, in their own 
Ty s Innuit, that is, men or human Ss, in oppo- 
sition to other creatures, and this not from presumption. 
They are called Esquimaux, or Eskimos, by some authors. 
trait, and part of Nootka and Wil. 
liam’s Sound, as it appears from the maps of the late 
Captain Cook, where someislands are nfarked with names 
used by the Greenlanders in Davis Strait. They re- 
semble one other in their stature, their complexion, and 
their customs. Living under‘a rigorous climate, which 
presents very few productions, the size of their bodies 
is reduced by the nature and scarcity of their food, and 
the extreme cold. Although the stature of the Green« 
landers is in general below the cammon standard, their 
persons are not proportionally slender, being usually 
pretty plump, but very seldom muscular. Their face is 
large and broad, the nose not very flat, but small and 
short; the nostrils somewhat wide, the cheek bones 
high, the cheeks round and plump. The face frequente 
ly appears fallen in quite across between the temples: 
The forehead is low, the eyes little and black, dull 
and drooping, but having the power to distinguish accu~ 
rately at a very great distance. The eyelids are drawn 
towards the temple; the mouth is generally little, and 
round; the teeth very regular, ant g: beautifully white ; 
the lips thick, and turned outwards; the under lip some= 
what thicker than the upper. The beards and eyebrows 
are thin, but they have abundance of hair on their head, 
which is black, long, coarse, and straight. Their necks are 
short, their legs thin, but their feet and hands are small 
and very well formed ; their heads are uncommonly large. 
The shape of the women is very similar to that of the 
men, and they resemble them so nearly, that one can~ 
hot at first distinguish the sexes, their dresses being nearly 
the same. The appearance of the women is by no means 
feminine ; they have high breasts and broad shoulders, 
being accustomed, when very young, to labour hard, and 
carry great burdens. The Greenlanders are of a yellow- 
ish grey colour, which approaches somewhat to olive 
green; but this may be. attributed not only to the cli- 
mate, but to their dirty habits, and to the great quantity 
of smoke and soot which their houses contain ; for their 
children are born as white as any European child. 
. The oily nature of their food contributes probably some- 
what to deepen their colour; their blood becoming so dark, 
dense, warm, and oily, that their skin has the ‘smell 
of oil, and their hands and feet are as clammy as bacon. 
Their bodies being very fleshy and fat, and coated as it 
were with a varnish of oil and dirt, they can bear the 
cold better than an European. They sit commonly na- 
ked in their houses ; and the effluvia from their bodies is 
such, that an European who sits by them can scarcely 
endure it. Their children are in general very healthy ; 
and one rarely sees among them a human being mis- 
shapen from its birth. They consider themselves to be 
very well educated and informed ; and when they meet 
together, nothing is so customary among them, as to ridi- 
cule the Europeans and their manners. The women in 
rticular, understand that sort of humour extremely well. 
They use a mode of very expressive mimicry, consisting 
of certain grimaces, by means of which they can make 
themselves understood from one corner of the house to 
the other ; and a European coming to their country will 
instantly be characterised by a nickname, expressive of 
his manners, or behaviour, or personal defects. . They rec- 
kon themselves the most modest people in the world : 
and seeing a modest foreigner, they say, innucksisimavok, 
s 
