New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-11


scenery and climate of that little-known land that
he repeated his experience upon 'he hisu OPP
por,unity. He has written an interesting account
of what he saw: but 1t is scarcely possible to
convey either with pen or pencil, the peculiar
attractions and delights of Arctic scenery and
travel while the positive and really formidable
drawbacks and discomforts of such an expedition
appear in dscouragingy bold relief. AS 10 the
exnloration Of Greenland, il neither has been nor
can be accomplished, 50 far as the interior Is
concerned: for the entire country, withln COM
,.,ativeIv narrow coast-belt, is occupied by
thick sheet of ice from out OF which the noun
tain-tops protrudc like islands from the sea one
of the Danish exploring party did succeed III
crossing the island from one SIDE To the o'hcr'
lint Of course. he could not penetrate beneath the
icy stratum. and there was little or no'hihe 10
see but ice. snow and rocky peaks rising above
both II is on the coasts only that Greenland
Is inhabited by human beings, and even there the
struggle for existence is so severe that tnere Is
little opportunity for progress The Oreeniandefs
rroper are Eskimos, who now occupy the SUD
ordinate position of aborigines everywhere. lhcre
has been much mixing of blood with Danish
immigrants. and the resulting race OF haii-preeds
docs not appear 10 have gained much by the
proccss The modes OF life are not particularly
attractive The people are wholly lacking III lore
SIGHT They cannot be induced TO save lor oic
IT., while the summer lasts and consequently
a.. often exposed to famine. a Danish fshing
company occupies toward the natives an ANALOGOUS
,elation 70 that between the Hudson Bay Company
and the Northern American Indians and does us
bcst 10 insii habits of thrift and providence ihVo
them. but with very poor results
The Greenandcrs are an innocent ana au.o"
people but still little better than saNages' Noo'
hat
rsrcion sits lightly upon them. Its best fruits
seem TO have been in tho teachlng oil hS
ing. for which they have a prcdilcction nehs
naturally fond of music, and, unlike most p'iini-
tive peoples, especially in cold ATTITUDES, generally
endowed with fairly good voices. Their livelihood
&c nrecarious being for the most part drawn from
.be sca Whales have failed them of late years,
,be great cetaccans being doubtless on the way 70
extinction like the American buffalo. lhey now
DEPEND largely upon the seal fishery with an occa-
sonal walrus and salmon III the summer lheS
have the nomadc habit of summer migrauohS'
living during the open season III tents on uhe
beach or on the bank of some hord or r'er'
In the winter they live much like the EsKmos'
EMPLOYING dog-sedges for transportation ana treat
ing their dogs as barbarously as all the Arcuc
natives do. Reindeer. which were formerly 'heir
chief reliance arc rapidly disappearing, having
In short it NAV lie said that nearly all the means
of support are diminishing, for the Greenander
is a poor producer and his country and climate
do not conduce to the creation of agricultural
enthusiasm They plant little corn and few vege-
tables They subsist upon sailed fish and meat
often until they are attacked by scurvy. Curiously
enough. this inclement, wild and barren country
is divided into two factions, North and South
Greenland, and the people of each nation scorn
the other, and refuse 10 follow any OF their Gus
toms In one division the women have a prac-
teal and convenient method Of proclaimng their
precise status to the world without saying word
They wear their hair tied with ribbons, the color
of which expresses their condition; as, red for
young girls: blue for married women; green for
such as ought to he married. yet are not, and so
on. In the other half of Greenland this eminently
sensible custom is sneered at and one has to
guess at or inquire concerning the position OF
each lady
Mr.. Christensen evidently made good use Of
his sketching opportunities, for his volume is
beautifully illustrated with autotypes giving ex-
cellent ideas of the magnificent. weird and it must
be said, gloomy and oppressive. scenery in and
about the fiords. To take these many pictures.
moreover, must have required almost the courage
and endurance of martyr. for Greenland in sum-
mer is infested by the most ferocious and i'm
even the bear and reindeer burden to them.
and drive everybody but the tOugh-hided natives
frantic, literally killing the poor dogs sometimes
by their incessant attacks. All the sea-fshing is
done in kayaks-small covered canoes, managed
with great skill and daring by the Greenlandcrs,
but which not seldom prove their collins in heavy
weather. They hunt seal with harpoon to which
bladder is fastened, and when they catch seal
they do not always wait To cook the flesh In fact,
the pure-blooded natives have a manifest fondness
for flesh, eating various parts of the reindeer
in that state, and chewing raw blubher very much
as New-lork girls do caramels. Mr.. Christensen
in the course of his wanderings came TO have a
high appreciation of seal meat. and he suffered
from the hospitality of the Danish officials, who
always RECALLED him with salt leg of mutton
or a ham which had been in tin cans for nobody
could guess how many years: whereas he would
infinitely have preferred some fresh seal chops or
steaks Boiled seal, he concluded, was the best
meat TO be had in the country, yet possibly that
is not saying much for the Greenland larder.
The natives are of course, supersttious, but
one would like to have learned more about a
certain mysterious creature the ruuior OF whose
appearance travelled backward and forward along
the coast while artist on his wanderin2s.
The descriptions given Of this animal by various
persons processing to have it too contra
dictory TO make much Of, but they all agree in
saving il was white that it had formidable jaws.
and that il uttered a kind of angry whistle Ac-
cording to most accounts it rose from the water
close along shore in of the fiords. Some
pretended to have seen it on the shore, where it
was able TO move swiftly. Nobody had ever
before seen q creature at all resembling it. OF
that all the natives were certain. OF course a
man of science came along opportunely. pooh
poohed the stupid natives, and declared that If
they had really seen anything, which he held to
be very doubtful. it obviously either pc
culiar kind of whale or a large cuttle7fsh-the
resemblance between whales aud cuttle-fsh being
VIGOROUSLY SO close that it would he difficult
for Greenlanders who had been observing both
all thcif lives 80 distinguish one from the other.