a mysterious region.—ancient scandinavian colonists.—their decline and fall.—hans egede.—his trials and success.—foundation of godthaab.—herrenhuth missionaries.—lindenow.—the scoresbys.—clavering.—the danish settlements in greenland.—the greenland esquimaux.—seal-catching.—the white dolphin.—the narwhal.—shark-fishery.—fiskernasset.—birds.—reindeer-hunting.—indigenous plants.—drift-wood.—mineral kingdom.—mode of life of the greenland esquimaux.—the danes in greenland.—beautiful scenery.—ice caves.
in many respects greenland is one of the most remarkable countries of the arctic zone. the whole of the northern coast of continental america from cape lisburne to belle isle straits is known; the borders of siberia fronting the icy ocean have been thoroughly explored by water and by land; the distance of spitzbergen and nova zembla from the pole has long since been determined; but how far greenland may reach to the north we know not—though nearly a thousand years have passed since the icelander günnbjorn (970 a.d.) first saw its high mountain coast, and in spite of all the attempts made since that time to circumnavigate it. the interior of the island—or continent as it may perhaps more justly be called, for it has a surface of at least 750,000 square miles, and is probably larger than australia—is also unknown; for of this vast extent of territory only the narrow shores of the coast-line seemed to be inhabitable, or even accessible to man. on penetrating into the deeper fjords, all the valleys are found blocked with glaciers, which, on climbing the heights, are seen to pass into a monotonous plateau of ice, or névé, which seems to cover and conceal the whole interior. thus, from its physical configuration, greenland may well be called a mysterious region; and, strange to say, the history of the decline and fall of its first colonists is as little known as its geography.
we have seen in a previous chapter that iceland, so peaceful in the present day, was peopled in the ninth century with a highly turbulent race of jarls and vikings. one of these worthies, called erik rauda, or the red, having twice dyed his hands with blood, was banished by the althing (982) for a term of years, and resolved to pass the time of his compulsory absence in exploring the land discovered by günnbjorn. after spending three years on its western coasts, he returned to iceland, and made so favorable a report of the new country, which—knowing the advantages of a good name—he called greenland, that in 986 he induced a large body of colonists to sail with him and settle there. other emigrants followed, and in a few years all the habitable places of southern greenland were occupied.
the colony, which soon after its foundation adopted the christian religion, was divided into two districts, or “bygds” (from the icelandic “byggia,” to383 inhabit), by an intervening tract of land named ubygd, the “uninhabitable” or “uninhabited.” the west bygd reached from lat. 66° down to 62°, and contained, in its best days, ninety farms and four churches. south of it lay the desert, “ubygd,” of seventy geographical miles, terminated by the east bygd, consisting of 190 farms, and having two towns, gardar and alba, one cathedral, and eleven churches. the whole population may probably have amounted to 6000 souls. the country was governed by icelandic laws, and the first of its eighteen bishops, arnold, was elected in 1121, the last being endride andreason, who was consecrated in 1406. in spite of its poverty and distance, greenland was obliged to contribute its mite to the revenues of the papal chair, for we read in the ancient annalists that in 1326 its tribute, consisting of walrus-teeth, was sold by the pope’s agent, bertram of ortolis, to a merchant of flanders for the sum of twelve livres and fourteen sous.
the time, however, was now fast approaching when the greenland colony was not only to cease paying tithes and peter’s pence, but to be swept away. during the course of the fourteenth century it was visited by one misfortune after another. the black death, which carried off twenty-five millions of europeans, did not spare its distant fjords (1348–9); the esquimaux harassed the survivors with repeated attacks, killing some, and carrying away others captive. a hostile fleet, suspected to be english, laid waste the country in 1418; and, finally, the revolutions and wars which broke out in scandinavia after the death of queen margaret of waldemar caused greenland to be entirely neglected and forgotten. the last colonists either retreated to iceland, or were destroyed by the esquimaux, and many years elapsed before greenland was again thought of as a place where scandinavians had once been living. at length king frederick ii. of denmark sent out mogens heineson, a famous “sea-cock,” as the chroniclers style him, to the south-eastern coast of greenland (1581), to see if men of a norse origin still dwelt along those ice-bound fjords. heineson reached the coast, but the great transparency of the air, which in the polar regions frequently causes strange optical delusions, led him into a singular error. after having sailed for many hours in the same direction, and still seeing the mountains which seemed quite near recede as he advanced, he fancied himself fettered by an invisible power, and thus the famous “sea-cock” returned home with the report that, detained by a magnetic rock, he had not been able to reach the land.
in 1605 king christian iv. of denmark sent out a new greenland expedition, consisting of three ships, under the command of godske lindenow, and the guidance of james hall, an english pilot. this time no magnetic rocks intervened; but the ships having separated, hall landed on the west coast, which had already been rediscovered and visited by davis, hudson, baffin, and other arctic navigators; while lindenow, anchoring off cape farewell, kidnapped two esquimaux, who afterwards died of nostalgia in denmark. but neither lindenow, who the year after again made his appearance on the western coast of greenland, nor two later expeditions under carsten richardson and dannell, were able to effect a landing on any part of the eastern coast. it was in sight, but the drift-ice made it inaccessible. they were equally unsuccessful in finding any traces of the lost colony, which came at length to be regarded as a mere384 scandinavian myth. but while no one else cared about its existence, the ardent hans egede (born in norway, january 31, 1686), pastor of vaage, in the lofoten islands, still continued to cherish its memory. he had read in the ancient chronicles about the old christian communities in greenland, and could not believe in their total extinction. he felt the deepest concern in the fate of their descendants, and the thought that after so long a separation from the mother-country they must needs be plunged in barbarism and heathen darkness, left him no rest by night or day. at length he resolved to devote his life to their spiritual welfare, and to become the apostle of rediscovered or regenerated greenland. his zeal and perseverance overcame a thousand difficulties. neither the public ridicule, nor the coldness of the authorities to whom he vainly applied for assistance, nor the exhortations of his friends, could damp his ardor. at length, after years of fruitless endeavors, after having given up his living and sacrificed his little fortune in the prosecution of his plans, he succeeded in forming a greenland company, with a capital of 9000 dollars, and in obtaining an annual stipend from the danish missionary fund of 300 dollars, to which king frederic iv. added a gift of 200 dollars. with three ships, the largest of which “the hope,” had forty colonists on board, egede, accompanied by his wife and four children, set sail from the port of bergen on may 12, 1721, and reached greenland on july 3, after a long and tedious passage. the winds had driven him to the western coast, in latitude 64°, and here he resolved at once to begin his evangelical labors with the esquimaux. a wooden chapel was speedily erected, which formed the first nucleus of the still existing settlement of godthaab.
but if the life of worthy egede had for many a year been full of trouble before he went to greenland, trials still more severe awaited him during his apostolical career. he had not merely the suspicions of the esquimaux, the enmity of their medicine-men, the severity of the climate, and not seldom even famine to contend with. his own countrymen, disappointed in their hopes of carrying on a lucrative trade with the greenlanders, resolved to abandon it altogether, and, after ten laborious years, the government not only withdrew all further assistance from the mission, but even ordered the colony to be broken up. all his companions, with the exception of a few volunteers who engaged to share his fortunes, now returned to denmark; but egede, though his health had been so shattered by almost superhuman exertions that he had long since been obliged to leave all active duties to his son, resolved, like a faithful soldier, to die at his post. in 1733 his perseverance was at length rewarded by the grateful news that the king, at the entreaty of count zinzendorf, the founder of herrenhuth, had consented to bestow an annual grant of 2000 dollars on the greenland mission, and that three moravian brothers had arrived to assist him in his work. thus he could at length (1735) return with a quiet heart to his native country, where he died, universally regretted, in 1758, at the age of seventy-two.
it may easily be supposed that, during his long stay in greenland, he anxiously sought the traces of his lost countrymen, for the desire to help them had first led him to that arctic country. nothing in the physiognomy of the esquimaux or in their language pointed in any way to a european origin, and385 even their traditions said not a word of the old norse settlers who had once inhabited the land. the ruins of some churches, and other buildings scattered here and there along the west coast, alone attested their existence, and formed a link between the past and the present. thus if greenland still had inhabitants of scandinavian origin, they must necessarily be confined to the eastern coast beyond cape farewell. but egede was as little able as his predecessors to penetrate through the ice-belt which, both by land and sea, completely separated it from the rest of the world.
for many years after his death it remained unknown and inaccessible; and löwenorn, who was sent out in 1786–87 to renew the attempts of heineson and lindenow, had no better success. no doubt many a whaler may have admired its distant mountain peaks glowing in the evening sun, or may have been driven by the storm against its shores, but the scoresbys were the first to determine accurately the position of part of its well-fenced coast. in the year 1817, captain scoresby the elder, deviating from the usual course of the whalers, steered through the western ice, and reached the east coast of greenland beyond 70°. he could easily have landed; the coast which had so frequently baffled the attempts of previous navigators lay invitingly before him, but he could not sacrifice his duty as the commander of a whaler to curiosity or renown. and thus, without having set his foot on shore, he sailed back into the open sea. on a later visit, however, he landed in the sound which bears his name. in the year 1822 scoresby the younger succeeded in more closely examining the land. leaving the usual track of the whalers, he had steered to the west, and threaded his way through the drift-ice until, between 70° 33´ and 71° 12´ n. lat., the coast of greenland lay before him. no coast that he had ever seen before had so majestic a character. the mountains, on which he bestowed the name of roscoe, consisted of numberless jagged stones or pyramids, rising in individual peaks to a height of 3000 feet, and a chaos of sharp needles covered their rough declivities.
on july 24 he landed on a rocky promontory, which he named cape lister (70° 30´), and, climbing its summit, continued his excursion along its back, which was between three and four hundred feet high. here and there between the stones, which were either naked or thinly clothed with lichens, bloomed andromeda tetragona, a saxifraga oppositifolia, a papaver nudicanle, or a ranunculus nivalis. at cape swainson he again descended to the shore, which here formed a flat strand about 600 feet broad. some deserted esquimaux huts soon arrested his attention. charred drift-wood and a quantity of ashes lay scattered about the hearths, and proved that these dwellings had not been long forsaken. scarcely a bird was to be seen on land, but countless auks and divers animated the waters. a great number of winged insects—butterflies, bees, mosquitoes—flew or buzzed about, particularly on the hillocks between the stones. on july 25 he once more landed on cape hope, where he again found traces of inhabitants. bones of hares and fragments of reindeer horns lay scattered about on the ground. the skull of a dog was planted on a small mound of earth, for it is a belief of the greenland esquimaux that the dog, who finds his way everywhere, must necessarily be the best guide of the innocent children to the386 land of souls. the heat, which soon put an end to this excursion, was so great that many of the plants had shed their seeds, and some were already completely dried up and shrivelled.
the part of the coast of east greenland discovered by scoresby, and that which was visited the year after by clavering, lay, however, too far to the north to afford any clue about the extinct scandinavian settlements, even supposing them, as was then still believed, to have been partly situated to the east of cape farewell. at length in the year 1829, captain graah, who had been sent out by king frederick vi. of denmark, succeeded in exploring the south-eastern coast of greenland, from its southern extremity to the latitude of 65° 18´, beyond which no colony could ever have existed; and as he nowhere found either the most insignificant ruins or the least traces of an ancient christian settlement in the language and customs of the natives, it was now fully proved that the east bygd of the old chroniclers was, in reality, situated on the south-western coast of greenland, in the present districts of julianshaab and lichtenau, a coast which, in comparison with the more northern colonies of frederikshaab and fiskernäs, distinctly trends to the east.
the present danish settlements, which are confined to the more sheltered fjords of its western coast, are divided into a north and south inspectorate, the former extending from lat. 67° to 72°, and comprising the districts of upernavik, omenak, jakobshavn, christianshaab, egedesminde, and godhavn, on disco island; while the latter contains the districts of holsteensborg, sukkertoppen, godthaab, fiskernasset, frederikshaab, and julianshaab.
in the year 1855 the population of the south inspectorate consisted of 6128 aboriginal greenlanders, or esquimaux, and 120 europeans; that of the north inspectorate, of 3516 of the former, and 128 of the latter; a very small number if we consider that it is scattered over a space of 12° of latitude. in a country like this, such towns as godhavn, with 150 inhabitants, or godthaab, the most populous of all, with 330, pass for considerable cities.
but, in spite of its scanty population, greenland is a valuable possession of the danish crown, or rather of the danish company, which entirely monopolizes the trade, and manages its affairs so well that the greenlander receives for his produce only about the sixth part of its price at copenhagen. according to the average of six years (1850–1855), the total value of the exports from greenland amounted to 378,588 rix-dollars; that of the importations from denmark, to 164,215; but in the latter sum was included not only the price paid to the greenlanders for their goods, but all the stores and provisions necessary for the agents and servants of the company, the missionaries, and the administration of the colony. the trifling amount which, after all deductions and charges, the poor greenlander receives for his seal-skins or his blubber, he generally spends in tobacco, candy-sugar, coffee, and sea-biscuits, for his real wants are amply supplied by his own country, and he has not yet learned to invest his gains more profitably. like all other esquimaux, he depends chiefly upon the sea for his subsistence. of the various species of phocæ found in the greenland waters the most valuable is the hispid seal (phoca hispida), both from its numbers and from its frequenting the fjords during the whole387 year; while the larger greenland seal (phoca grœnlandica) is not stationary like the former, but leaves the coast from march to may, and from july to september. the cystophora cristata, or hooded seal, remarkable for a globular sac, capable of inflation, on the head of the male, appears in the fjords only from april till june. it is the most pugnacious of all the seals. in the southern districts, where the seal-hunting must be chiefly carried on in open water, the greenlander relies upon his boat, the kayak. when the animal is struck, the barbed point of the harpoon detaches itself, by an ingenious mechanism, from the shaft, which otherwise would be broken by its violent contortions; and as the line is attached to a bladder, it can easily be recovered.
among the cetaceans, the white dolphin (delphinopterus leucas) and the narwhal (monodon monoceros) are the most valuable to the greenlanders of the north inspectorate, from 500 to 600 of these huge animals being annually caught. the former makes its appearance a short time after the breaking up of the ice, and again in autumn; in summer it seeks the open sea. sometimes large herds of the white dolphins are cut off from the sea by the closing in of the ice in the neighborhood of the land, so that several hundred may be killed in the course of a few days. the narwhal is caught only in the omenak fjord, which it visits regularly in november. as its chase is both difficult and dangerous, the greenlanders generally hunt it in company, so that after a narwhal has been struck with the first harpoon or lance, others are ready to follow up the advantage. the larger whales are now seldom caught, but the dead body of a fin-back is not seldom cast ashore, and affords a rich harvest to the neighborhood. sometimes masses of oil, evidently proceeding from dead whales, are found floating in the fjords. in 1854 ninety-five tons of this matter were collected near holsteinburg.
the fishes likewise amply contribute to supply the greenlander’s wants. the shark-fishery (scymnus microcephalus) is of considerable importance. the entrails of seals and other offal are placed in the openings of the ice to attract these sharks to the spot, where they are caught in various ways, particularly by torch-light, which brings them to the surface. the fishermen, watching the moment, strike them with a sharp hook, and then drag them upon the ice. they are also caught with strong iron angles attached to chains. they are captured for the sake of their livers, which yield a good deal of oil. it has very recently been ascertained that a valuable substance resembling spermaceti may be expressed from the carcass which was formerly wasted, and for this purpose powerful screw presses are now employed. about 30,000 of these gluttonous animals are caught every year, and the fishery may be greatly extended, as the bottom of the ice-fjords absolutely swarms with them. their capture is attended with far less trouble and danger than in iceland, where they are pursued in boats, and in a capricious and tempestuous sea. improving upon the old esquimaux methods of fishing or hunting, the danish residents set nets for the white whale or the seal; for the former, they are attached to the shore, and extend off at right angles, so as to intercept them in their autumnal southern migration, when they swim close along the rocks to avoid the grampus. when the white whale is stopped by the net, it often appears388 at first to be unconscious of the fact, and continues to swim against it, and then allows the boat to approach it from behind. if entangled in the net, it is soon drowned, as, like all the whale tribe, it is obliged to come to the surface to breathe.
a large quantity of cod are caught in various parts of the south inspectorate, particularly at fiskernasset, which, being less subject to fogs and more exposed to the sea-wind, offers peculiar advantages for the drying of the fish. the capelin (mallotus villosus), which in may and june visits the coasts of greenland in great numbers, is eaten both fresh or laid upon the rocks to dry for the winter. the sea-wolf, the lump-fish, the bull-head, the norway haddock, the salmon-trout, are likewise important articles of food. the halibut grows to a huge size, and a smaller species (hippoglossus pinguis) is fished for at the depth of 180 or even 380 fathoms. the banks frequented by this fish are most valuable to the neighboring greenlanders. many are no doubt still undiscovered, others may be known by the dead fish floating on the surface, or by the seals diving out of the water with a flat fish in their mouth. long-tailed crabs are easily caught in many parts, and the common mussel may be gathered almost everywhere at ebb tide.
crowds of birds nestle during the summer on the rocky shores, particularly at upernavik, where the largest breeding-places are found. they are generally killed with small blunted arrows. in the ice-fjord of jacobshavn the gulls are caught ingeniously by floating traps on which something brilliant or resembling a fish is fixed. the eggs of the sea-birds are gathered in vast numbers, and the feathers and skins of the eider-duck and auk are both exported and used for the lining of boots.
compared with the wealth of the seas, the land is very poor. the chase of the reindeer is, however, important, as its skin affords both a warmer and a softer clothing than that of the seal, and serves moreover as a bed-cover or a sledge-carpet. reindeer-hunting is a favorite summer occupation of the greenlanders, who annually kill from 10,000 to 20,000, and export about one-half of the skins. only a few cows, sheep, and goats are kept at julianshaab. for want of hay they are fed with fish during the winter. in south greenland the potato is cultivated by the european residents as a luxury. the plant never flowers, and even buds are rare. turnips, cabbages, salad, and spinach likewise grow in south greenland, but barley sown in the gardens scarcely ever comes to ear. in summer the windows of the houses are gay with geraniums and fuchsias and other flowers of a more temperate zone.
among the indigenous plants, the berries of the empetrum nigrum, vaccinium uliginosum, and vaccinium vitis idæa furnish the greenlanders with their only vegetable food. while the coasts exposed to the bleak sea-winds afford scanty traces of vegetation, the valleys and hill slopes of the more sheltered fjords are green during the summer, and justify the name bestowed by erick on the land of his adoption. forests are of course out of the question in greenland, though in some places the birch attains a not inconsiderable size. thus in a dell at the upper end of lichtenau fjord a thicket of these trees, fifteen feet high, surrounds a little lake fed by a waterfall, the largest389 hitherto known in greenland. more generally, however, the trees, such as the beech, the willow, the elder, etc., merely creep along the ground, where the dense matting of their roots and branches, mingled with bushes of the empetrum, or with mosses, lichens, and fallen leaves, forms a kind of turf which is used as fuel by the danes.
in some measure the sea makes up for the want of timber by casting on the shore a quantity of drift-wood, the origin of which is still a matter of doubt, some tracing it to the north american rivers, others to those of siberia. it consists mostly of the uprooted trunks of coniferous trees. sometimes also large pieces of bark, such as those of which the indians make their canoes, and sewn together with threads of hair, and drifted into the fjords.
the mineral kingdom, though it has within the last few years attracted the attention of speculators, will hardly ever realize their hopes. several attempts to work the lead and copper ores at nanursoak and in the arksak fjord have miserably failed. the cost of transport is immense, and the difficulty of obtaining the necessary workmen presents an insuperable obstacle to all mining operations in greenland.
though the greenlanders have now been for more than a century under the influence of christian teachers, yet their mode of life is still much the same as that of their relatives the wild esquimaux on the opposite continent of north america. like them, they use the “kayak,” the “oomiak,” and the sledge; like them, they live in small winter huts of stone (the snow-house is unknown to them) or in summer tents hung with skins, and they are equally improvident in times of abundance. their constant intercourse with europeans has, however, taught them the use of many luxuries unknown to the wild esquimaux, and they are now great consumers of coffee. they are fond of instruction, but the immense space over which the population is scattered, and their vagrant life during a great part of the year, are great hinderances to their improvement. they are also very good-natured, and live on the best terms with the danes who reside among them. the latter, who, with the exception of the moravian missionaries, are all in the service of the company, soon get attached to the country, and leave it with regret; sometimes even returning to close their days in greenland.
the climate, though severe, is very healthy, and the lover of sport finds ample opportunities for gratifying his favorite passion. in september, or at the beginning of october, the last ships leave for europe; and then, till the next april or may—when the first english whalers appear in the ports of godhavn or upernavik—all communication with the civilized world is totally cut off. towards the end of january or the beginning of february, when the days begin rapidly to lengthen, frequent sledge-parties keep up a constant interchange of visits between the various settlements. this mode of travelling over the lakes and inclosed fjords is very agreeable in may, as then the sun is pleasantly warm at noon; and though he hardly disappears below the horizon, the nights are sufficiently cold to convert the melted snow into ice hard enough to bear the weight of a sledge. this is the best time for visiting many interesting spots inaccessible at other seasons of the year, and for enjoying many a scene390 unsurpassed in switzerland itself. here, as on the alps, the glacier and the snow-clad peak appear in all their grandeur; here also, in the valleys, the summer brooks flow between well-clothed banks, and the helvetian lakes are worthily rivalled by the magnificent fjords of greenland.
in many parts, the waves, beating against the steep coasts of the islands and fjords, render access difficult, if not impossible during the summer, but in winter or spring they may easily be visited across the ice. the surf has worn many caves in these precipitous rock-walls, which are no less remarkable for their picturesque basaltic forms than for the huge masses of ice on their sides, which, in their tints and grouping, far surpass the stalactites of the most renowned european grottoes.
