GREENLAND. 
51 
out of the coaches ; it is extended to the horses, whose heads, manes, 
and tails are ornamented with the rarest plumage, and set off with 
ribbons and artificial flowers.’^ 
The hereditary jurisdiction of the nobles over their vassals subsists in 
the fullest rigour of the feudal government. The peasants therefore 
are poor, and it depends entirely on the personal character of the 
master, whether their poverty be not the least of their grievances. 
As this power is too often abused, the importance of the nobility 
depends in a great measure on the favour of the king, who, under 
pretence of any offence, can confine them to their estates, or 
imprison them, at pleasure, and he has little to fear from their 
resentment. 
Manners, Character, and Customs of the Natives of 
Greenland. 
In winter the people dwell in huts of stone or turf ; on the sides 
are two windows, covered with the skins of seals or rein-deer. These 
huts are seldom more than two ells above the surface of the ground ; 
the rest of them being sunk in the earth, for defence against wind 
and cold. Several families live in one of these houses, possessing 
each a separate apartment, before which is a hearth with a great 
lamp placed on a trevet, over which hangs their kettle ; above is a rack 
or shelf, on which their wet clothes are dried. They burn train oil 
in their lamps j and instead of wick, they use a kind of moss, which 
fully answ'ers the purpose. These fires are not only sufficient to 
boil their victuals, but they likewise produce such a heat, that the 
whole house is like a bagnio. The door is very low, that as little 
cold air as possible may be admitted. The house within is lined 
w'ith old skins, and surrounded with benches for the convenience of 
stfangers. In summer they dwell in tents made of long poles fixed 
in a conical form, covered in the inside with deer-skins, and on the 
outside with seal-skins, dressed so that the rain cannot enter them. 
In their dispositions, the Greenlanders are cold, phlegmatic, indolent, 
and slow of apprehension, butveryquiet, orderly, and good-natured. In 
natural affection they seem to equal the natives of the w armest climates. 
Tw'o of them w'ere carried off, and brought to Denmark , but though 
caressed by the king and court to the utmost, were quite unhappy, 
and otie of them always wept upon seeing an infant in its mother’s 
arms, w'hence it was concluded that he had left a wife and a young 
child in Greenland. 
They live peaceably together, and have everything in common, with- 
out strife, envy, or animosity. They are hospitable, but slovenly, to a 
degree almost beyond the Hottentots. They never wash themselves with 
water, but lick their paws like a cat, and then rub their faces with them 
They eat after their dogs without washing their dishes, devour the 
, vermin which devour them, and even lick the sweat which they 
scrape off their faces with their knives. The women wash themselves 
with what must not be named, which they imagine makes their hair 
grow; and in winter go out immediately, to let the liquor freeze 
upon their skin. They often eat their victuals off’ the ground, and 
