of the greenland trade, and whether, in promoting it, there is any advantage to be expected.
the goods and commodities greenland affords for the entertaining of commerce, or traffic, are whale blubber or fat, and whale bones, unicorn horns, rein deer skins and hides, seal and fox skins. these wares they barter against merchandizes of our produce, as coats and shirts made of white, blue, red or striped linen or woollen cloth; as also knives, hand-saws, needles, hooks to angle with, looking-glasses, and other such merchandize or hardwares: besides what they buy of wood, as rafts, poles, deal boards, chests; and of brass and copper, as kettles and the like, tin dishes and plates; for which they pay to the full price. at the{180} beginning of our late settlement in those parts the trade was much brisker than at present, and much more profitable; for foreign traders flocking thither in great numbers have so overstocked them with goods, and undersold one another, to draw the natives to them from others, that the trade is considerably slackened and fallen. yet i trust, that, if we once became masters of this trade, as it in justice belongs to us, by the right the king of denmark lawfully claims to these countries as much as any kingdom or province subject to him; i trust, that, with this proviso, the trade to greenland would prove as profitable as any other whatsoever; which has been evidenced not long ago, when by his majesty’s special order foreign trade has been prohibited within a certain distance on each side of the colonies. for if the lading of some ships with fish and train from finmark, and others of fish, train, salt meat, and butter from iceland and fero, bring to the traders considerable profit; who would question, but the same or better advantage may be expected from the{181} importing quantities of whale train, whale bones, rein deer hides, fox and seal skins, which are of more value than the iceland or feroe? and, if the produce or commodities of greenland were formerly reckoned of that importance, that they were deemed sufficient to maintain the king’s table, why not also at present? provided greenland may by settlements and improvement retrieve its former abundance, which is not impossible.
if the old lands, formerly inhabited and manured by the norway colonies, were anew peopled with men and cattle; they would, without doubt, yield as much as either iceland or feroe, seeing there is as good pasture ground as in those islands. i shall forbear to mention salmon and cod fishing, as it seems at present to be but of little or no importance, especially on the west side; though i am credibly informed by the natives, that on the southern coast they catch abundance of fine large cod. yet this may be more than sufficiently compensated by the whale fishery on the north and the capture of{182} seals on the south, which if rightly undertaken, and with vigour set on foot, will bring as much, nay far more profit than the salmon and cod catching does in other places; chiefly the seal capture, which can be undertaken at very small expenses, viz. at the coast with strong nets, with which they may catch many thousands in greenland; which, if hitherto not practised, ought to be imputed to negligence and want of a good regulation. in short, greenland, as we see, is very convenient for trading, and may be very well worth one’s while to take in hand. but there is little to be done, without an established and formed company of men of substance as well as resolution; being altogether impossible and above the strength of any private man to master it and go through with it.
