INTRODUCTION. 
XXXIX 
had formerly had colonies in Greenland. He 
felt an interest in their fate, and made inquiries 
of a friend who had been much in the whale- 
fishery, respecting the present state of the coun¬ 
try ; and supposing, from the information he re¬ 
ceived, that the poor colonists were still in exist¬ 
ence, and, he feared, through the want of teachers, 
had reverted into a state of heathenism, he 
thought it “ the duty of every Norwegian, to 
search out his forlorn countrymen, and to carry 
the Gospel to them.” He himself at length de¬ 
termined on undertaking the work; and after try¬ 
ing various means, for ten years, to bring his plans 
to hear, eventually obtained the needful supplies, 
and an appointment to the laborious and perilous 
office of missionary to the Greenlanders. 
He embarked on this arduous business on the 
22d of May 1721, and landed, after many dan¬ 
gers, near Ball’s River, on the western coast of 
Greenland, on the 3d of July following. Here 
he fixed himself, and a few persons that accom¬ 
panied him, and thus formed a little colony in 
this severe region. The difficulties and priva- 
