MR. OliRTK. 
45 
seat is Lievely. The representatives of these are ed- 
ucated men, hard-working and responsible, ruling dic- 
tatorially the entire affairs of that somewhat singu- 
lar monopoly, the Royal Greenland Company. The 
official labor of these exiled servants is very heavy. 
They boat or sledge it from post to post ; and not only 
settle all the squabbles, white, half-breed, and Esqui- 
maux, but audit all the accounts, and keep up between 
the little settlements writing enough to rule a realm. 
Except that every where forlorn peripatetic, the doc- 
tor, no one has a more toilsome office. 
The incumbent, Mr. Olrik, was an accomplished and 
hospitable gentleman, well read in the natural sci- 
ences, and an acute observer. In a few minutes 
we were seated by a ponderous stove, and in a few 
more discussing a hot Eider duck and a bottle of La- 
tour. 
Upon commencing my negotiations as to furs, the 
object of my journey, I learned that the reindeer do 
not abound on the island of Disco as in the days of 
Crantz and Egede ; though to the south, about Bunke 
Land, and the fiords around Holsteinherg, and to the 
north of the Waigat, they are still very numerous. 
Nevertheless, by drumming up the resources of the 
settlement, we obtained a supply of second-hand late 
summer skins ; and with these, aided by the seal, soon 
fitted out a wardrobe. 
The most popular article of attire was the karah, 
a “ jumper” or close jacket, slipping on like a shirt, 
and hooded like the cowl of a Franciscan monk ; hut 
the seal-skin boot, a water-tight buskin, ingeniously 
crimped, so as to do away with a seam, was in great 
request. Thanks to Mr. Olrik, who actually robbed 
himself to supply our wants, we were eminently sue- 
