G R E 
fucky, extending from Ohio river on the north, to Te. 
neflee (late on the foutli, and bordering weft on the 
MilTiftippi river, and eaft: upon Hardin and Jefferfon 
counties. _ * 
GREENE, a county of the American States, in Waffi- 
ington diftridt, in the ftate of Teneflee, having 7,741 in¬ 
habitants. Greenville college has been eftablifhed by 
Jaw in this county. It is (ituated between two fmall 
northern branches of Nolachucky river, about fifteen 
miles north weft-by-weft of Jonelborough, and fifty- 
four eaft of the mouth of French Broad river. 
GREENE, a townlhip of the American States, in 
Tioga county, New York, on the eaft fide of Chenengo 
river. 
GREENE, a county of the American States, in the 
upper diftridt of Georgia, bounded weft by the upper 
art of Oconee river, eaft by Wilkes county, and foutli 
y that of Waffiingron. It contains 5405 inhabitants ; 
chief town, Greenfborough. 
GREEN'FIELD, a handfome flouriftiing town of 
the American States in Hampfhire county, Maflachu- 
fetts, about four miles north of Deerfield, and 114 weft- 
by-north of Bofton. The townfhip lie's on the weft bank 
of Connecticut river, was incorporated in 1753, and 
' contains 1498 inhabitants. A company was incorpo¬ 
rated in 1796 to build a bridge over Connedlicut tiver, 
to conned! this town with Montague. 
GREEN'FIELD, a townlhip of the American States, 
in Saratoga county, New-York; 386 of the inhabitants 
are eledtors. 
GREEN'HOLM, one of the fmaller Orkney iflands, 
. one mile and a half fouth-weft of Eda. 
1 GREEN'HOLM, one of the fmaller Shetland iflands, 
eaft of Shetland ; ten miles north-north-eaft of Lerwick. 
GREEN'ISH, adj. Somewhat green; tending to 
green.—Of this order the green of all vegetables feems 
to be, partly by reafan of the intenfenefs of their co¬ 
lours, and partly becaufe, when they wither, fome of 
them turn to a greenjjk yellow. Newton. 
With goodly greeni/Ii locks, all loofe, unty’d, 
As each had been a bride. Spen/er. 
GREEN'ISHNESS,/. The ftate or quality of being 
greepifh. 'Scott. s 
GREEN'LAND, a cold and dreary country, fituated 
in the moft eafterly part of North .America, ftretching 
towards the north pole ; with fome'iflaods. to.the north¬ 
ward of the continent of Europe, lying in very high la¬ 
titudes. This country, is divided into Weft or New 
Greenland, and Eaft or Old Greenland. Weft Green¬ 
land is bounded on the weft by Baffin’s Bay, on the 
Youth by Davis’s Straits, and on the eaft by the northern 
part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a very mountainous 
country; but the coaft abounds with inlets, bays, and 
large rivers; and is furrounded with a vaft number of 
iflands of different dimenfions. In a great many places, 
on the eaftern coaft efpecially, the ffiore is inacceffible, 
by reafon of the floating mountains of ice. The prin¬ 
cipal river, called Baal, falls into the fea in the fixty- 
fourth degree of latitude, where the firft Daniffi lodge 
was built in 1721; and has been navigated above forty 
miles up the country. 
Greenland was firft peopled from Iceland, in the 
tenth century, where they foon became a thriving co¬ 
lony, and beftowed on their new habitation the name of 
Groenland, or Greenland , on account of its verdant appear¬ 
ance. This colony was converted to Chrillianity by a 
miffionary from Norway, lent thither by the celebrated 
Olaf, the firft Norwegian monarch who embraced the 
true religion. The Greenland fettlement continued to 
increafe and thrive under his protection ; and in a lit¬ 
tle time the country was provided with many towns, 
churches, convents, bilhops, &c. under the jurifdidtion 
of the archbiffiop of Drontheim. A confiderable com¬ 
merce was carried on between Greehland and Norway ; 
G R E 3 
and a regular intercourfe maintained between the two 
countries till the year 1406, when the laft biftiop was 
fent over ; about which time, by the gradual increafe 
of the ardtic ice, the colony appears to have been com¬ 
pletely imprifoned in the frozen ocean ; while on the 
weft a range of impaflable mountains and plains, covered 
with perpetual ice, precluded all accefs. The ancient 
fettlement may be traced in the map by Torfaeus, in 
his Groenlandia Antiqua ; from which it would feem that 
the colony extended over ab'out two hundred miles in 
the fouth-eaft extremity. On the weft fome ruins of 
churches have alfo been difcovered. 
About a hundred years after all intercourfe between 
Norway and Greenland had ceafed, feveral ffiips were 
fent fucceffively by the kings of Denmark in order to 
difcover the eaftern diftridt ; but all of them mifcarred. 
Among thefe adventurers, Magus Hennifen, after hav¬ 
ing furmounted many difficulties and dangers, got fight 
of the land ; which, however, he could not approach. 
At his return, he pretended that the ftiip had been ar- 
refted in the middle of her courfe by rocks of loadftone 
at the bottom of the fea. The fame year, 1576, in 
.which this attempt was made, captain Martin Fro- 
biflidr was fent upon the fame errand by queen Eliza¬ 
beth. He likewife defcried the land ; but could not 
et accefs to it, and therefore returned to England ; 
ut not before he had failed lixty leagues in the ftrait 
which ftill retains his name, and landed on feveral 
iflands, where he had fome communication with the na¬ 
tives. He had likewife taken poffeffion of the country 
in the name of queen Elizabeth ;, and brought away fome 
pieces of ore, from which the refiners of London extradl- 
ed a proportion of gold. InYhe enfuing fpring he un¬ 
dertook a. fecond voyage, at the. head of a fmall fqua- 
dron, equipped at the expence of the public; entered 
the ftraits a fecond time ; difcovered upon an ifland a 
gold and filver mine; beftowed names upon different 
bays, iflands,. and headlands ; and brought away a la¬ 
ding of ore, together with two natives, a male and a fe¬ 
male. Such was the fuccefs of this voyage, th 4 at an¬ 
other was.fitted out under the aufpices of admiral Fro- 
bifher' cbnfifting of fifteen fail, including a confidera¬ 
ble number of foldiers, miners, fmelters, carpenters, 
&c. Who were to remain all the winter near the mines 
in a .wooden fort, the different pieces of which they car¬ 
ried out in the tranfports. They met with boifterous 
weather, impenetrable fogs, and violent currents, which 
retarded their operations until the feafon was too .far 
advanced. The admiral, therefore determined to re¬ 
turn with as much ore as he could procure : of this 
they obtained large quantities out of a new mine, to 
which they gave the name of the Goiintefs of Suffex. 
They fet fail in the beginning of September, and after 
a month’s ftormy paflage, qrrived jjp England: but this 
adventure, was never after.profecuted. ~ 
Thus flood the affairs of Greenland, when Hans Egede, 
minilter of Vogen in Norway; prompted by a laudable 
zeal to promote the knowledge pf C’hrift among the fa- 
vage Greenlanders, made fome propofals for renewing 
the intercourfe between Denmark and Norway, and 
Greenland, which had been difcontinued for many centu¬ 
ries. Moft of the friends and acquaintance of this wor¬ 
thy divine, when they.heard of his project, looked upon 
it as a chimerical undertaking. However, in 1718, he 
refigned his benefice in the fouth part of Norway, and 
removed, with his wife and children, to Bergen. His 
propofals did not meet with a favourable reception, ei¬ 
ther from the merchants or clergy of that city. He 
therefore went to Copenhagen, in 1719, and laid his 
plan before the king; who lent an order to the magif- 
tracy of Bergen, to propole to the citizens.the eredting 
of a Greenland company. This, after many difficulties, 
was at laft effedted in 1721, and a capital of 10,000 rix 
dollars was raifed for that purpofe. The new eftablifli- 
ed company fitted out three lhips for Greenland ; and 
2 the 
