The Mineral Resources of Greenland. 15 
go immediately to the Sound where his vessel was to weigh anchor 
and to proceed into the main sea in the Baltic to bury there his gold 
and his folly and never again to speak of either. The pilot was obliged 
to obey him, and whether it was because he thought he had thrown 
all his wealth into the sea, or that he beheld himself fallen from the 
high hopes of riches, he had conceived, it is certain that he died very 
soon after from one or the other causes of grief. We cannot blame 
the Grand Master for his harsh orders to the pilot; for he told me that 
they since found in the mines of Norway similar sand to that of Green- 
land of which Т have just spoken, and that an intelligent workman in 
minerals and mines who came not long ago to Copenhagen, extracted 
very good gold from it, and in quantity proportionate to the sand. Не 
was incited to this precipitation by the ignorance of the other workmen 
who would have known no better how to extract the ore even from 
the material in which it is found in Peru than from this sand.” As 
late as 1764 the legend “silver mines” occurs on maps of Greenland. 
And KERGUELIN, in 1767—8 naively states that “it is not known for 
what reason this trade was discontinued by the Danes in 1718”. 
HANS EGEDE was optimistic as to the value of Greenland’s asbestos, 
and knew also of the presence of coal and graphite. CRANTZ reports 
that in 1724 Egede had his people “spring a rock in Amaralik fiord 
in hopes of finding some metallic ore, but he got nothing but brimstone 
pebbles” (pyrite S.H.B.). Egede also reported copper from a point 80 
miles south of Godthaab. A contemporary of Egede, MATHIAS JOCHUMSEN 
(1733) is said to have made a careful mineralogical study of the coast. 
Crantz (loc. cited p. 55) mentions the presence of garnets of possible 
gem value, and of mica, and adds: (loc. cited p. 58) “Some coals were 
found at Disko (Island), but they are said to burn badly and stink.” 
As early as 1770, the colonies of Umanak and Godhavn, according to 
Hans EGEDE SAABYE (“Greenland 1770—8”, pp. 69, 72 and 284) used 
coal obtained from two mines in their vicinity. Coal mining in Green- 
land, on a small scale, at least, began almost as early as in America. 
SCHUMACHER (Nat. Sels. Skr. 4. 2. H. 1798) reported late in the 
18th Century the presence in Greenland of chalcocite, fluorite, galena, 
hematite and magnetite. 
CHARLES GIESECKE, a Prussian mineralogist and mining engineer, 
was commissioned by the Danish government in 1806 to examine the 
Frederick VII copper mine. For eight years he continually voyaged 
along the coast and the results of his arduous labors are contained in 
annual reports addressed to the Royal Greenland Trade Company, (See 
also С. L. Giesecke “Bericht einer Mineralogischen Reise in Grönländ 
in Form eines Tagebuchs gehalten von C. L. Giesecke 1806—13. F. John- 
strup, Editor, Copenhagen, 1878. Also Chas. Giesecke’s article: “Green- 
