ch. xviii] Hans Egede and Danish Greenland 159 
four little children, a party altogether of forty souls. The 
2nd May, 172 1, was the memorable day when the Hope 
sailed from Bergen, and the history of modern Danish 
Greenland was commenced. 
Though ice was found blocking up the approaches to 
the Greenland coast, a lane of water was seen apparently 
leading to the land, and the little vessel was steered into 
it. But the ice closed, and she was beset, a dense fog 
being followed by a strong gale, and for some time the 
adventurers were in danger. The gale had the effect of 
clearing away the ice, so that at last the Hope was brought 
safely into Gilbert Sound of Davis. Hans Egede called 
it Bell's River. He appears to have been ignorant of 
the details of Davis's voyages, but he must have known 
the expedition of Hall, who named one of the branches 
of the fjord Bell's river, after Mr Richard Bell, and the 
other after Sir James Lancaster. Hans Egede set up 
the house he had brought out in pieces on an island in 
Gilbert Sound, the native name of which was Kenget, 
renamed by him Haabetso or Hope Island. At first the 
Eskimos were very friendly and Egede at once began to 
learn the language. But neither he nor his people were 
at all efficient in hunting and fishing, and they could 
only occasionally get food from the natives. The conse- 
quence was that scurvy broke out, and most of his people 
returned in the Hope when the navigable season arrived. 
But in 1723 two ships arrived with provisions and the 
good news that the King had imposed a Greenland 
assessment for the support of the colony. 
It was found that the Dutch had long frequented 
Davis Strait for the whale fishery. Several ships arrived 
every year and they made use of two or three harbours, 
but had no permanent settlement. 
In the second year after his arrival Hans Egede 
undertook a boat voyage in search of the lost Greenland 
colony. The distance was great from Gilbert Sound to 
Cape Farewell, and then round to the east side of Green- 
land, for the general belief then was that the " East 
Bygd" of the Norsemen was on the east coast. On 
Egede's map Frobisher's Strait was shown to pass through 
Greenland, instead of on the other side of Davis Strait, 
and he naturally relied upon being able to make a short 
