44 
L I E V E L Y. 
lar Seas. At the depth of ten fathoms every feature 
of the bottom was distinctly visible. 
Even for one who has seen the crimson dulses and 
coral groves of the equatorial zones, this arctic growth 
had its rival beauties. Enormous bottle-green fronds 
were waving their ungainly lengths above a labyrinth- 
ine jungle of snake-like steins ; and far down, where 
the claws of the fucus had grappled the round gneis- 
ses, great glaring lime patches shone like upset white- 
wash upon a home grassplot. 
It was a rough sail outside. The bergs were nu- 
merous ; and the heavy sea way and eddying current, 
sweeping like a mill-race along the southern face of 
the island, made us barely able to double the entrance 
to the little harbor. We did double it, however, and 
by a sudden transition found ourselves in a quiet land- 
locked basin, shadowed by wall-like hills. 
Snow, as usual, covered the lower slopes ; but, cheer- 
ful in spite of its cold envelope, rose a group of rude 
houses, mottling the sky with the comfortable smoke 
of their huge chimneys. Among the most conspicu- 
ous of these was one antique and gable fronted, with 
timbers so "heavy and besmeared with tar, that it 
seemed as if built from the stranded wreck of a vessel. 
Little man-of-war port-holes, recessed into its wooden 
sides, and a flag-staff, as tall as the mast of a jolly- 
boat, gave it dignity. This was the house of the 
" Royal Inspector of the Northern portions of Davis's 
Straits;" whose occupant — well and kindly remem- 
bered by all of us — no less than the royal inspector 
himself, stood awaiting our landing. 
There are but two inspectorates for the Danish coast 
of G-reenland : one termed the Southern, whose cen- 
tre is Holsteinberg ; the other the Northern, whose 
