XXXIV 
INTltODUCTION. 
omitted in the Journal, may be added. Among 
the numerous relics of inhabitants which we met 
with on the east coast of Greenland, was an appa¬ 
ratus that was found by my father, resembling the 
fox-trap used by the Russian hunters, who occasion¬ 
ally winter on the coasts of Spitsbergen. This trap 
was formed principally of w T ood. It was thought 
to be a relic of the colonists, who having origi¬ 
nally come from Norway, were likely to be ac¬ 
quainted with the contrivances used in a country 
nearly adjoining their own, for catching foxes, and 
other small animals. On the whole, I hope, 
therefore, that enough has been said to prove, 
that the total depopulation of the colonies is by 
no means certain ; but, on the contrary, it is 
more than probable, that some remains of these 
people still exist. 
It is no proof of the natives of this coast being 
purely Esquimaux, that the huts which I disco¬ 
vered were all of the description used by these 
people, because, on the suspension of the supplies 
formerly afforded the colonists from Iceland and 
Norway, they would consequently conform, from 
necessity, to the manners of the Esquimaux, as 
