THE HOWGATE EXPEDITION. 505 
educated and polished gentleman. He and his family were very kind and hospi- 
table, as indeed were all the Danes we have met. We have received nothing 
but kindness from them since we have been in Greenland. The Inspector’s wife 
is arefined and cultivated lady. She speaks English more fluently than her hus- 
band, and in conversing with us he had frequently to refer to her when at a loss 
fora word. Their house, the best one in the place, is well furnished, and they 
evidently live in a somewhat luxurious style. They invited Dr. Pavy and myself 
to visit them this winter, which we will certainly do if we have an opportunity. 
Though he has a very common name—Smith—the Inspector is somewhat aristo- 
cratic and exclusive. He and his family keep themselves aloof from the other 
inhabitants, and have no social relations even with the Governor. Dr. Pavy and 
I had to apply to him for permission to remain in Greenland. At first he was a 
little inclined to refuse us. He could not exactly understand why we wanted to 
remain. He had heard of my grandfather, and thought that our remaining might 
have some political significance. He thought, perhaps, that the United States 
had some designs on Greenland, and had sent me as a kind of spy. But when 
we assured him that we were merely two enthusiasts on the subject of the North 
pole, and that we desired to remain here this winter for the purpose of gaining 
arctic experiences, etc., he very promptly acceded to our request. He advised 
us to stop at Rittenbenk, where there are ample accommodations, and gave us a 
letter to the Governor of that place, directing him to receive us. 
Every little settlement in Greenland has its Governor, who is, in reality, 
nothing more than a trader. Most of them are uneducated, but all we have seen 
are polite and hospitable. 
The natives are mostly half-breeds, there being very few pure-blooded Esqui- 
maux in any of the settlements we have visited. Those of Godhaven do a lively 
trade in seal-skin slippers and other articles. They trade for provisions, clothing 
etc. About the only things we had to trade with were stockings, and I believe 
we left a supply for several years. One of the Esquimaux, named Frederick, a 
consummate rascal, who can speak little English, was quite facetious on the 
subject of our stock in trade. He said he believed we had nothing but stockings 
on board, we ate stockings, the name of our ship was Stockinus, etc. 
I send you some pressed flowers. They are not well pressed and do not 
look very pretty now, but they were beautiful when growing, and you can see 
from them that this is not altogether a landscape of desolation. While there are 
no trees, and nothing similar to them, other vegetation is quite luxuriant. The 
hillsides and the valleys—the country is nothing but a series of hills and valleys— 
are liberally covered with verdure, and I can now well understand why this land 
is called Greenland. 
At Godhaven we had some fine sport shooting eider-ducks, which were quite 
numerous. By the way, I must not forget to tell you that we met Hans Chris- 
tian, the Esquimau who was with Kane, and who stole a team of dogs and 
