398 



POLAR REGIONS. 



In latitude 64° 14' stands Gothaab, a settlement, where there is a church, founded in 1721 

 by the famous missionary Egede. Some thousands of the natives formerly dwelt in this vicini- 

 ty ; but in 1733 the ravages of the smallpox thinned their numbers, and their population has 

 been on the decline ever since. Passing the colonies of Sukkertoppen and Holsteinburg, we 

 come to Disko Island. From the great distance at which it first becomes visible above the 

 horizon, this island must be more than a mile in perpendicular height. Disko Bay is 120 

 leagues in circuit, and has the most productive fishery of any in Greenland. There are seve- 

 ral settlements on and about the island. Lively is the principal, and has an excellent harbor 

 for small vessels. 



The climate of Greenland is intensely cold ; and in winter, while the northeast wind blows, 

 the thermometer is often at 48^ below zero. Before the ice begins to be formed the sea 



smokes, and produces a fog called. 

 frost smoke, which has the singular 

 effect of blistering the skin. The 

 aurora borealis sometimes appears 

 here in great splendor. Mock suns 

 are very frequent. From the pecu- 

 liar state of the atmosphere in clear 

 weather, the islands of the continent 

 seem to the spectator to approach 

 nearer to him, and to increase in size ; 

 sometimes they assume the form of 

 groups dilTerent from the real shape, 

 and appear suspended in air. Light- 

 ning is sometimes observed, but thun- 

 der is rare. The rains are generally 

 of short duration, the air is pure, and 

 in some places the heat in summer 

 exceeds 80°. 



It may well be supposed, that the 

 vegetable productions of such ascil and 

 climate are not very numerous or lux- 

 uriant. The valleys are clothed with 

 mosses and a miserable species of 

 grass. A few herbs, bilberry bushes, 

 and other shrubs vegetate on the desert isles, and on cliffs which have just soil enough for 

 them to take root. The most common of these is the scurvy grass, of which a soup is pre- 

 pared, that in many diseases is an excellent medicine. There are other plants of a dwarfish 

 character, and trees which never rise above 18 feet. Some attempts have been made to 

 cultivate oats and barley, but they never came to perfection. 



Tha trade to Greenland has always been a monopoly, and it is now cari ied on by the Danish 

 government. Each settlement is managed by a trader and his assistant, in their employment. 

 The exports are feathers and eiderdown, horns of the sea-unicorn, skins of seals, foxes, bears, 

 hares, and reindeers, whalebone, and oil of all kinds. Five or 6 vessels go out from Copen- 

 hagen to Greenland every year, about the beginning of May. Their cargoes are made up of 

 guns and ammunition, all sorts of ironmongery, various cloths, looking-glasses, snuff-boxes, 

 &c. The whale fisheries, are chiefly carried on by the settlers, and for the Danish govern- 

 ment. The British whale-fishers visit Disko yearly about the end of April and leave it in 

 June. In 1S02, including the Moravian settlements and the natives, the total population of 

 the west coast of Greenland was supposed to amount to 20,000 souls. 



Greenland was first discovered to Europeans in the 8th century, by Erick Raude, an Ice- 

 lander, who was driven by accident upon the coast. On his return he represented the country 

 so favorably to his countrymen, that several famihes followed him thither, where they soon be- 

 came a thriving colony, and bestowed upon their new habitation the name of Greenland, that 

 i£, " green land," on account of its verdant appearance. The Greenlanders became tributary 

 to Denmark in A. D. 1023, which was soon after they embraced Christianity. A bishopric 

 was erected there, and there is a long list of their bishops on record. In the reign of Queen 

 Elijah 3th, Martin Frohisher visited Greenland, and penetrated the strait known by his name 



