Clia0. I. 
lying round the NORTH POLE. 
tho(e of the Men. Their Hair^ which is Very long and 
thick, is braided, and tied up in a Knot, which becomes 
them •, they commonly go bare-headed, as well without 
as within Doors nor are they covered v/ith Hoods, but 
in Cafe it rains or fnows. Their chief Finery is to W'ear 
Glafs-Beads of divers Colours, or Corals about their Neck 
and Arms, and Pendants in their Ears •, they alfo wear 
Bracelets of black Skin fet with Pearls, with which they 
alfo trim their Cloaths and Shoes. 
The Grosnland fair Sex have, befides this, another Sort 
of Embellifhment, viz. they make long black Strokes be- 
tween the Eyes, on the Forehead, upon the Chin, Arms, 
and Hands, and even upon the Thighs and Legs. Thefe 
they make with a Needle and Thread made black, and 
though this to others feems disfiguring and frightful, yet 
they think' it very handfome and ornamental ; and they 
fay thole who do not thus decorate or deform their Fa- 
ces, their Heads fnall be turned into Train-Tubs, which 
are placed under the Lamps in Heaven, or rather in the 
Land of Souls. They keep their Cloaths pretty clean, 
though in other things, efpecially in their Viduals, they 
are not fo nice, particularly the Women who have got 
Children are very dirty, well knowing that they cannot 
be repudiated or divorced. But thole which are barren, 
or whofe Children are dead, and do not know the Mo- 
ment they may be fent away, are obliged to be more 
careful in point of Cleanlinefs, that they may pleafe their 
Hiifbands, and enjoy Maintenance and Protedfion from 
them. 
12. The Commodities Greenland affords, for the en- 
tertaining of Commerce, are Whale-Blubber or Fat, and 
'Whale-Bones, Sea -Unicorn-Horns, Rain-Deer Skins, and 
Bears, Seal and Fox-Skins. Thefe Wares they ufed to 
barter againft the following Merchandizes, viz. Coats 
and Shirts, made of white, blue, red, and ftriped Linen, 
or Woollen-Cloth ; as alfo Knives, Hand-Saws, Needles, 
Hooks to angle with, Looking-glaffes, and fuch other 
Merchandizes, or hard Wares *, befides what they buy of 
Wood, as Rafts, Poles, Deal-Boards, Chefts ; and of 
Brafs and Copper, as Kettles, and the like ; Tin Difhes 
and Plates, for which they pay to the full Price. At the 
Beginning of the Danijh Settlements in thofe Parts, the 
Trade was much brifker than at prefent, and much more 
profitable ; for foreign Traders flocking there in great 
Numbers, fo over-flocked them with Goods, and under- 
fold one another, to draw the Natives to them from 
others, that the Trade is now conftantly flackened and 
fallen. Yet fays Mr. Egede., from whom we take this, 
if we once become Mailers of this Trade, as it in 
juFice belongs to us, by the Right the King of Den- 
mark claims to thefe Countries, as much as to any 
Kingdom or Province fubjefl to him ; I truft, con- 
tinues he, that with this Provifo, the Trade to Green- 
land would prove as profitable as any other Trade 
whatfoever, which has been evidenced not long ago ; 
when, by his Majefty’s fpecial Order, the foreign 
Trade has been prohibited within a certain Diftance 
on each Side of the Colonies. For if the lading of fome 
Ships with Fifli and Train, from Finmark^ and others 
with Fifli, Train, Salt-Meat, and Butter, from Iceland 
and Ferro, bring to the Traders confiderable Profit ; who 
vmuld queftion but the fame, or better Advantage, may 
be expedled from the importing Quantities of "Whale- 
Train, Whale-Bones, Rain-Deer Hides, Fox and Seal- 
Skins, which are of more Value than the Iceland or Ferro 
Commodities ? And if the Produce of Greenland was 
formerly reckoned of that Importance, that it was 
efteemed fiifficient to maintain the King’s Table, why 
not alfo at prefent, provided Greenland may, by Settle- 
ments and Improvement, receive its form.er Abundance, 
w'hich is not impoffible ? 
If the old Lands, formerly inhabited and manured by 
the iY oTvjay Colonies, were again peopled with Men and 
Rocked with Cattle, they v/ould, without doubt, yield as 
much as either Iceland or Ferro, feeing there is as good Paf- 
ture Ground as in thofe Ifiands. I fliall forbear to mention 
Salmon and Cod-fifliing, as it feems at prefent to be of 
little or no Importance, efpecially on the Weft-fide ; 
though I am credibly informed by the Natives, that on 
VoL, II. Numb. 95, 
^03 
the Southern Coaft they catch abundance of fine large 
Cods ; yet this may be more than fuliiciently compen- 
fated by die Whale-fifiiery on the North, and tlie Capture 
of Seals on the South, which^ if rightly undertaken, and 
with Vigour fet on foot, will bring as much, nay far 
more, Profit than the Salmon and Cod-catching does in 
other Places, chiefly the catching of Seal, which can be 
undertaken at very final! Expeiice, viz, 'at the Coaft, with 
flrong Nets, with which they may catch many thoufands 
in Greenland^ which if hitherto not praciifed', ought to 
be imputed to Negligence, and w'ant of a good Regula- 
tion. In fhort, Greenland, as we fee, is very convenient 
for trading, and may be very well worth one’s while to 
take in hand, but there is little to be done without an 
eftablifiied and formed Company of Men of Subftance as 
well as Refolution, it being altogether impoffible for any 
private Man to mafter and go through with it. 
The Ignorance fliewn by thefe People of a Creator 
would make one believe they were Atheifts or Natura- 
lifts ; for when they have been aflced whence they thought 
that Heaven and Earth had their Original ? they have an- 
fwered nothing but that it had always been fo ^ but if v/e 
confider that they have fome Notion of the Immortality 
of Souls, and that there is another much happier Life 
after this-, as they are addidled to different kinds of Super- 
ftition, and that they hold there is a Spirit, which they 
call To'rngarfuk, to whom they aferibe a fupernatural 
Power, though not the Creation or the Produdlion of 
Creatures, one would think' they did own a God. But 
notwithftanding all their Superflitions are grounded upon 
the Notion they have of Torngarfuk, whom their lying 
Angekuts or Prophets hold for their Oracle yet the Com- 
monality know little or nothing of him, except the Name 
only ; nay even the Angekuts themfelves are divided in 
their whimfical Ideas they have formed of his Beingf feme 
faying he is without any Form or Shape, others giving 
him that of a Bear, others again pretending he has a 
large Body, and but one Arm, and fome make him as 
little as a Finger, iFc. 
They affign him his Abode in the lower Regions of 
the Earth, where they tell you there is conftantly fine 
fun-lhiny Weather, good Water, Deer and Fowls in 
abundance. They alfo fay he lives in the Water, where- 
fore when they come to any Water, of which* they have 
not drunk before, and there is any old Man in the Com-* 
pany, they make him drink firft, to take away its Torn- 
garfuk, or the malignant Quality of the Water, which 
might make them fick and kill them. They hold like- 
wife that a Spirit refides in the Air, which they name 
Innertirrorfok, that is, the Moderator or Reftrainer, be- 
caufe it is purfuant to his Order, that the Angekuts com- 
mand the People to reftrain or abftain from certain earth- 
ly things or Adlions, that they may not come into Harms- 
Way. According to their Theology, there are Spirits that 
govern all the Elements, and their Conjurers pretend ta 
have familiar Spirits, and to be able to do great Matters* 
They are, however, a Crew of Knaves and Lyars, and 
it would give very little Satisfablion to the Reader to in- 
fert their Fables, vftiich are not at all more falfe than they 
are foolifh, and ferve to fhew us that tho’ Reafon may go 
a great Way in teaching Men hov/ to manage their Af- 
fairs in this World, yet it is far from being ftrong enough 
to penetrate into the Secrets of the other World, and of a 
future State. 
Their Notions of the heavenly Bodies are very whim- 
fical ; they fay the Moon was once a young Man, and 
the Sun a young Woman his Sifter, with whom he was 
familiar in the Dark ; but that flie, being defirous to find 
out her Lover, rubbed her Hands with Soot, with which 
file marked his white Deer-Skin Coat, and hence they 
lay are the Spots in the Moon. The Sun, flying from his 
Embraces, afeended into the Air, whither the Moon fol- 
lowed her, and ftill continues to piirfue, vftthout being 
able to overtake her. 
Yet for all this Nonfenfe, they have given Names to, 
many of the Stars, and Conftellations, viz. The three 
Stars in the Belt of Orion they name Sicktur, that is Se- 
parated, becaufe thefe three, they fay, before their Me- 
tempfyehofis, or rather Metamorphofis, were three lioneft 
5 Greenlanders^ 
