The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-12-21
HOUSE
FARTHEST NORTH
Trip to the Big Body Of Land in
the Arctics a Pleasant
One.

Being resolved upon visiting Green
land, I found that some difficulties had
first to be overcome, says a writer in
Black and White. No private vessel
plies there, either with passengers or
cargo, from any port Of the world. OF
the Dundee whalers few remain, and
| if they happen to take fresh water on
the Greenland coast their stay is lin
! tied to hours.
| Some fishing schooners Of Gloucester,
Mass, frequented the Greenland bankA
seasons found the halibut catch was not
to be relied on. The Miranda, an
American steamer, attempted a cruise
with tourists in 1894, but was wrecked
to leave. One of the fishing schoon-
ers brought her people home.
Apart from Arctic expeditions, no
other foreign visitors have risked a
voyage for about two centuries. The
whaling ships are handled by expert,
enced men, yet the Vega was nipped I
For Arctic expeditions, one ship lost in
each twenty measures the scale Of risk.
Fog, ice pack, bergs, currents and death
trap reefs bar out casual shipping: /
There also exists an international
treaty whereby most Europeans and
Greenland. This treaty is enforced by
Denmark on behalf Of her royal trade,
government department., which is
trying to civilize the native tribes of
the country. BY this means alone can
the Eskimo people be shielded from
disease, alcohol and interference with
the hunting on which they depend for
existence.
I was fortunate in getting permits
sion--the second granted to an English
speaking man since 1735-to visit
Greenland in one Of the royal ships.
At Copenhagen I was examined by q
doctor to make sure that I carried no
So we sailed from Elsinore on May II
in the little bark Thorvaldsen, and
just a month later sighted the Green
/ land coast.
The coast of Norway, best seen in
midwinter, and certainly the grandest in
the seaboard of British Columbia and
southeastern Alaska. [ would not dis
! parage that coast, and yet it is not so
beautiful as the west coast Of Green
land. The sunny Arctic day which lasts
fSr %Sn sbes sky 5 A im9g R e5Gy v 4S
stupe ndous cliffs. and based on the rest
I full levels Of the sea, cities of crowded
bergs, compound of dazzling light and
radiant color-such scenery as that blots
out ones former memories. The ship
T Of heaven unrolled before us it's va
Il ried and wondrous loveliness.
Our first port Of call was Jakobshavn,
at the head of Disco strait, largest Of
the no 5t1 villages IN metropolis of
side a pocket harbor, perched on round
shoulders Of the naked granite, are the
buildings, all tarred black, of the royal
trade. For a background to the dismal
\ scene rise higher rocks, Uttered with
Z garbage, and tuft huts, the homes of the
4 natives.
At heart the place is gay, for our sal
4 lors went ashore every night, to dance
4 with the Eskimo. girls, while the officers
Of ship and colony snapped dinner par
nine days festival.
The place might have been a Hud
son 8 bay port uglifed, but the Danish
traders are much more civilized that the
British.
| Men and women alike were linguists
lite for comfort, living a metropolitan
life on one batch of letters a year in al
Arctic outpost
l . Expecting the pathos of Punishment
Z The Danes Of all the settlements were
alike in social charm, gentle and pol
ished, arrant ,gossips, too; and the in
- door life had little to remind one Of thu
outdoor wilderness.
The -Innuit servant maids wore the
furry breaches, boots to the hip, ant
curious topknot Of their national dress
one had to fall promiscuously in love
with all Of them. The Danish men also
wore native dress, with only one dis
tinction-that they washed.
The food, apart from Danish grocer
les, was seal meat, fish, reindeer, ven
ison, shellfsh, ptarmigan, sea birds ant
their eggs, which as served in Greenland
are always pronounced in flavor, lik,
the political egg used at elections. Their
e was only at one port dish called mat
tax (the skin of the white .whale),
hard fat with a delicious nutty flavor
- which would be esteemed by epicure
in Europe. Tasteless radishes and othe
small vegetables are grown under glass
and there arc plenty of blueberries o.
the hills. .. .. .......s~r-.
Nearly the whole of Greenland i
covered with a continental icecap lik,
that Of the Antarctic continent. Nan
sen and Peary have crossed the milan,
ice, but even to reach the edge is
difficult journey. At Jakobshavn
persuaded sailor to come with me
chartered a skin boat with a nativ
crew, and set off at 3 'clock one sun
+ ny morning. Our way led southwark
past the mouth of Jakobshavn fiorC
" where shoal about the size Of LonGb
is covered with damned and strande
bergs. Some Of the spires are said t