Elizabeth-Town gazette. [volume] (Elizabeth-Town, N.J.) 1818-1821, 1818-11-24
From the Quarterly Review for June, 1918.

missionaries in Greenland, but then the
number was reduced to six. During the
last war all communication was Cut off,
aud at length one missionary alone remain
ed there. The stipend Of these good men
is very moderate, which must be altribu-
ted 10 the limited resources, rather than
TO the parsimony Of the Danish govern
ment; but it is paid TO them partly in
money. aud partly in Professionalism
fare is coarse and scaniy, and they suffer
great privations, almost approaching to
distress.-Saabye has given an unaffected
de lineation of The feelings OF the mission
airy aud his family during the long and
lonely Greenland year. They have Que
bright epoch; for ii is a bithe and happy
time to them when the ice is loosened
from the rocky coast, aud they can ex
pect the arrival Of the vessel, which alone
reaches them in their solitude. Often
deceived by the floating iceberg forming
itself in mockery, into the shape OF the
Friendly visltant: at length they see the
white sails and the masts, and now she
is riding safe at anchor in the bay. By
this vessel their wants are supplied. The
active and pious housewife, OF whom our
missionary always speaks with tranquil
affection, busies herself in arranging the
stores Of the ensuing twelve months.
There are letters, TOO, from friends and
relations, and books and newspapers and
banished as they are, they live again in
Denmark, 10 their &c father land" These
hours Of innocent happiness soon glide
away the ship sails, aud the missionary
aud the partner of his tolls, remain be-
hind, solitary and forsaken. 10 this
season Of bitterness succeeds the gloom Of
the polar night. A few days before the
18th OF November, Saabye used to climb
the high rocks, from whence, al noon, he
could just see the sun dimly shining, with
soft and pallid light, aud then the sun
sunk, and he babe farewell to the eye oil
creation with leayiDess and grief.-A du-
bious twilight continued till the beginning
Of December, then darkness ruled. 4 he
stream near which Saabye's house was sit
uated, reared beneath the ice the sea
dashed and foamed over the rocks, burst
| HISs ttdiI az dIbSt hlS WbudohS1 Gnu
dogs filed the air with long continued
moans. His journeys at Christmas time
were performed by moonlight, or whilst
the merry north light danced and streamed
in the sky. About the 18th Jan. the
Trays Of the rising sun glittered on the
rocks. He rose bright in radiance, and
the world started from its terpor They
also felt a new life within lhem-they
looked forward to spring and summer; and
the ship from Denmark. We even seemed
10 breathe more freely. AT libby, lin
Denmark) adds Saabye, we know not
how TO prize the daily presence of the
sun, because we never know his absence.
When others complain Of the short De-
cember days, / think on Greenland, and
thank God for the light he gives us here
in December.-At Saabye's settlement,
the polar day begins on the 18th May,
but it was not till the beginning of July,
that the soil of his little garden was suffi
GENTLY thawed to enable him TO SOW it.
Great labour had been bestowed in making
the ground. The thin layer of earth
which covered the rock adjoining his
house, was not deep enough for the spade,
therefore our pastor and his wife brought
good mould every now and then, which
they carried in tub, till they found it
was sufficient to allow Of vegetation. The
details Of their horticulture are curious.
| Cabbages flourished remarkably well, tur-
nips grew to the size of ieacup, lost
their bitter taste, and acquired an agreea-
BILE sweetness but Saabye's carrots were
never larger than the stalk of tobacco
pipe. Celery and broad beans would not
grow at all peas ran into bloom but did
not set; the barley was killed by the
frost. Vegetation was uncommonly rapid.
The Greenlanders believe that certain
Congekok or Conjuror, came TO settle at
Disco, and not finding supply of his
favorite comfit, lie towed the island from
the south into its present situation. At
the summer soistice, the sun at midnight
seemed to be of the same altitude as he is
at noon in Denmark in the month Of De
cember and it is glorious spectacle to
follow him in his unwearied course, cir
cling again aud again round the heavens.
The night sun sheds mild warmth, and
yet he shines with broad unnatural.
glare; the sky is clear and the air is
calm.-On the contrary, when he is at
his greatest altitude, fogs envelope the
land, the air is sultry, swarming with
iormeniors Of the insect tribes. On the
10th OF July, the sun begins TO dip below
the horizon; at first his setting is scarcely
perceptihle, but the night frosts soon in
crease, and remind the missionary Of the
approach OF The evening Of the year.