8 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 
Moravian Mission, the members of which left the 
country in 1900. The Mission had been established 
in Greenland about two centuries. We reached 
Holsteinsborg (Map 4, 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- 
