MR. LASSEN. 
23 
luxury neglected with us, is carefully dried in a separate 
piece. 
Seal and shark oils are the next in importance among 
the staples of Fiskernaes.® The spec or blubber is pur¬ 
chased from the natives with the usual articles of ex¬ 
change, generally colfee and tobacco, and rudely tried 
out by exposure in vats or hot expression in iron 
boilers. None of the nicer processes which economy 
and despatch have introduced at St. John’s seem to 
have reached this out-of-the-way coast. Even the 
cod-livers are given to the dogs, or thrown into the 
general vat. 
We found Mr. Lassen, the superintending official of 
the Danish Company, a hearty, single-minded man, 
fond of his wife, his children, and his pipe. The visit 
of our brig was, of course, an incident to be marked in 
the simple annals of his colony; and, even before I 
had shown him my official letter from the Court of 
Denmark, he had most hospitably proffered every thing 
for our accommodation. We became his guests, and 
interchanged presents with him before our departure; 
this last transaction enabling me to say, with con¬ 
fidence, that the inner fiords produce noble salmon- 
trout, and that the reindeer-tongue, a recognised deli¬ 
cacy in the old and new Arctic continents, is justly 
appreciated at Fiskernaes. 
Feeling that our dogs would require fresh provisions, 
which could hardly be spared from our supplies on 
shipboard, I availed myself of Mr. Lassen’s influence 
to obtain an Esquimaux hunter for our party. lie 
