8 G. Holm. 



washed up by the sea, and the angakoks had on the strength of 

 this foretold that Kavdlunaks would be coming up there. After 

 they had entered into conversation with our fellow-travellers, they 

 soon lost all fear of us, and we had them soon swarming about us; 

 everything we had with us, even the veriest trifle, had something 

 marvellous about it in their eves. 



When we had pitched our tents, they all came to us with 

 presents, now with bear's flesh and blubber, now with dried seal's 

 flesh, or entrails and blood, now with sealskin thongs, sinews 

 or sinew thread. Of course they received from us presents in re- 

 turn : sewing-needles, nails, pieces of iron hoops, pieces of red rib- 

 bon, etc. The exchanging of gifts gradually passed into bartering, 

 which in the long run caused us no little inconvenience, as it was 

 often impossible to satisfy their wishes. 



They marvelled greatly over all the wonderful things they saw, 

 when they visited us in our tents. We showed and explained to 

 them such inventions as watches, the compass, guns, glass, mirrors, 

 quick-silver, a magnifying-glass, matches etc. At each new object 

 they were shown, our visitors broke out as by one consent into 

 exclamations of amazement. The magnifying-glass impressed them 

 particularly, for they could see in it how finely our garments were 

 woven, and what large mailed animals they could get hold of by 

 merely pulling up their hands to their heads. The only thing they 

 immediatel}^ realized the usefulness of were the matches; they saw 

 at a glance their superiority to their fire-making apparatus, which 

 required two persons to make fire. 



Wintering at Angmagsalik. — On the 1st September we 

 arrived at the place in Angmagsalik Fjord at which I had settled 

 to winter, viz. Tasiuarsik Kitdlek. It had a capital situation, lying 

 as it did at the extreme point of a tongue of land behind which a 

 little fjord, Tasiusarsik, bounded by high, steep, picturesque moun- 

 tains, cuts into the land. The place had a very free situation: the 

 Sermilik mountains and the promontories which projected out into 

 the sea were seen on the west, and between the North-East and 

 South-East we had a view of the jagged mountains of the Angmag- 

 salik fjord, and could see right away to Cape Dan. One had only 

 to climb a little way up the mountains to obtain a view of the 

 whole inhabited part of the Angmagsalik fjord. 



An old overgrown site of a ruined house, which consisted merely 

 of a depression in the ground, was dug out and built up into a winter 

 dwelling for us. The walls were built of turf and stones; the roof 

 was formed of several pieces of heavy drift-wood, between which 

 was laid lighter wood; most of the latter was taken from one of our 



