, 1884-11-06
DANCING IN DIsEo.
A Journalistic Experiences at a Ball in
Greenland.
Lire's 10y In the Frozen North
Charming Girls In Bioomer
Costume-Wen Behaved
aud Church-Gofng.

aud Church-Gofne.
The following is one of the brightest,
b~reexiest sketches OF the late J.. A Mac.
GahAn, the lamented correspondent, whose
remains have just been brought from Europ
to rest In his native state. Ohio. IL Is de
scriptive of the visit Of the steamer Pandorn
TO Disko, a little Greenland town:
A sunny, pleasant little spot Is Disko just
now during its few short weeks Of summer.
when the grass Is peeping out timidly be
tween the rocks. and the great, round, smooth
boulders exchange their winter dress OF
snow for one of moss, deep, green and soft;
when the melted snow comes tumbling down
the ravines in white, heecy torrents, and the
tall, rugged cliffs in the glow OF the summer
sun turn Il warm, reddish purple, like a
great red curtain drawn across to shelter
the little bay from the biting northern blasts.
Altogether the place has n warm, comfort
able look, very agreeable after the chilly
winds and icy air OF those northern seas.
We took a walk about the village. The
people, young and old men, women and
children, turned out to see Us, and greeted
US with pleasant smfles-many of them Civ
Ing US a good morning" in English, which
they pronounced very well The girls were
all dressed in their best hnery. and some Of
va aAA- tHEL~AaAA ~ "AR - 0@AA-
blood, were very pretty; only 1t was very
difficult at first to bring oneself to believe
that they were girls at all. This Is the coun.
Try for Mrs. Bloomer; the women all wear
trousers, and would scout the idea of any
thing else as absurd and probably indecent.
The Dixko costume appears very funny un-
til you get used to 1t, but rather pretty,
nevertheless. The hair is done up in a kind
al top-knot on tb4 crown OF the head; a loose
hitting jacket, made Of any Kind Of
light, thin stuff Of any color, trimmed with a
fur collar, reaches TO the waist; a pair Of seal
skin trousers with the hairy side out descend
nearly to the knee, where they are confined
with a garter: a pair OF top boots meet the
trousers at the knee, the feat and ankles Of
red leather, the upper portion Of white linen,
trimmed with fur around the tops. Imagine
Il pretty girl clothed In this costume, with the
darkest, demurest eyes and the sunniest
brown complexion ever painted by sunshine,
and sea-breezes, and ocean spray, and you
have a fair idea OF a Disko girl. You should
see them tripping about in their little red
boots, that scarcely seem to touch the ground.
80 soft Is their tread, or springing over
the rocks like young antslopes, to know how
charming q girl may be In boots and breechss.
And they have the daintiest little feet and
hands, too-feet and hands hat would make
the prettiest American or English girl burst
with envy, 30 finely shaped, so small, so deli
cate. and yet so strong.
These girls dance like sylphs, a fact we
soon discovered 1t is the custom in Disko
70 give q ball to every ship that comes there,
and the Pandora of course could not
form an exception TO the rule. The enter
tainment proved to be a very great success.
The festal hall vas no other than the work
shop Of Disko's lonely carpenter, which had
been cleaned and transformed for the occa-
sion, and Inscribed over the door In chalk,
the following Legend: Mus hal dor Q open
8 so'clock," which Eskimo attempt at
written literature was finally d~eciphsred &C
mean: @Music-hal door open at 8 o'clock
Further investigation proved that this was
the only record the Alert and Discovery had
left on their visit here.
viii not deny that this hall, twelve by
fifteen, was perhaps a little warm and close
when twenty OF our blue-jackets and the
whole population OF the village was crowded
into 1t, and that a little more room might
nave been desirable. But there was no petit
coats, no crinoline, no long trains to be
trAmpled upon: u woman took no more space
than n man, and hat made a vast deal OF
difference. After a while, however, we
found the place SO oppressively hot that we
decided to adjourn to the open air. The
dancing was continued outside with rene wed
enthusiasm, and l am ready to aver that
/ never enjoyed q dance more In my life.
Ny partner was a demure little beauty,
with dark, slightly almond-shaped eyes, q
akin as brown as that Of the nut-brown maid
hsrsslf, the reddest, ripest lips, and the
dAtntiest little feet that were ever seen. A
greater pleasure even than to encircle her
lend waist or to gaze upon her dark ayes
was to watch her little red booted feet as
- - ---..-l Ill. A. Il
of a sea-bird over the waves-a pleasure
quite lost when you dance with a girl who
weau petticoats. The motion OF dancing
had caused her boots to settle down, leaving
just above the knee a bit OF the leg exposed,
which, contrasting with the white starched
linen tops OF the boots, appeared as brown As
a walnut.
My partners queer little topknot, planted
perpendicularly on the top of her head, and
tied up with a red ribbon, just reached to my
mouth, 80 that l must have looked as though
l had an normo imperial with a girl sus-
pended to 1t by u red ribbon. Young girls,
by the way, tie this topknot up with a red
ribbon, married women with a blue, widow
with black.
1t should not be forgotten about these girls
that they were all very well behaved. They
allowed the men not even a kiss nor a
squeeze OF the land. They knew
as we'll how TO maintain their dig
nifty and keep people at a proper dis
tance as any other young ladies. They were
all good Christians and church going people,
belonging, as do all the Eskimos Of Green
land, TO some form OF the Lutheran faith, to
which they have been converted by the mild
and benificent influence OF the kindly Danes.
They have a neat little wooden church,
where they have religious service every Sun
day, and n pastor, who goes the rounds OF q
district and appears among them three or
four times a year, and they lead a quiet in
nocent, virtuous, and, To all appearances, a
happy life in their little ice-l9uni world.
This summer Is probably the most lonesome
time for them, as iearly ali the men ire
AMY tnsn on the huuling AID fishing
groundt We only saw about iise or sx
about the village, but they took no part Ia
the festivities, and the girls ioo1 for ships
touching here-a very rare occurIence-as