GREENLAND, or Groenland, an immense island lying to the north-east of North America, and for the most part comprehended within the arctic circle. Formerly it was supposed to form part of the continent of America, but the discoveries of recent navigators have proved its entire separation from that country by the Arctic Ocean. Indeed, the very idea of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean presupposed that such was the case. From Cape Farewell, its most southern extremity, which from the mean of nine different authorities lies in lat. 59° 37 30", it stretches on the one side in a north-north-westerly direction to Smith’s Sound, at the top of Baffin’s Bay, in lat. 77° 45'. On the other side of Greenland the figure of the coast is exceedingly irregular. For about ten degrees it may be said generally to run in a north-north-easterly direction, describing during the first five degrees a considerable sinuosity, indented by numerous inlets of the sea. From latitude 70° to that of 75° the direction of the coast is more directly northerly, and from the latter parallel it proceeds nearly due north beyond Spitzbergen and the latitude of 80°. This side of Greenland has been denominated East or Old Greenland, and the other side is distinguished by the name of West Greenland. The average breadth may be about 500 miles. Such are the limits usually assigned to this country. It does not appear to terminate, however, at Smith’s Sound. From this point it proceeds south as far as the entrance to Lancaster Sound and Barrow’s Straits, and thence it stretches in a westerly direction for several hundred miles. Captain Parry, the discoverer, called this tract of country North Devon. To the west of it are situated numerous islands, which tire same navigator entitled North Georgian Islands. The principal of these are Cornwallis, Melville, Bathurst, and Bank’s Land, the boundaries of this last being unknown. To the west of Baffin’s Bay and Davis’ Straits, and to the north of Hudson’s Bay and Hudson’s Straits, there is a large tract of country, probably separated into various islands by narrow straits. Although these would appear to be disunited from Greenland, they should be included in every description of that region.

The south-eastern portion, from which a vast peninsula shoots off into Hudson’s Straits, has been entitled Cumberland. Cape York, Cape Kater, Port Bowen, and so on, terminate the country towards the north-west. To the westward of these headlands lies a tract of land discovered by Captain Parry, and which he named North Somerset. At the head of Baffin’s Bay are situated Southampton Island, Melville Peninsula, Cockbum Island, and some smaller islands. All these various tracts are either insular or indented by an immense bay and inlets, formed, it is probable, by the tempestuous seas and currents which here incessantly lash the shores, and which in many instances are supposed to penetrate across the most solid masses of land.

In general the discoveries which have been effected in this quarter of the globe have resulted from attempts made to discover a north-west passage to India through the Arctic Sea. The existence of such a communication is a subject which from time to time has occupied the attention of the British government for the last three centuries; and although much valuable information has been obtained by means of these voyages, the main object remains as yet unaccomplished; nor does it ap∣>ear that although it were, any important benefits to commerce would be derived from it. The first discovery of Greenland, however, was the result of accident. About the middle of the ninth century, one of the numerous Scandinavian marauders who infested the seas at that period, was driven by a storm upon the coast of Iceland. The Norwegians were not long in establishing a colony on this island, which increased so rapidly that in little more than a century it was itself able to send out colonies to other parts. In the year 982, Eric, a Norwegian chief, set sail from Iceland in quest of adventures, and steering to the south-west, after a quick run discovered land. Two or three years were spent in exploring the country; and Eric being pleased with the freshness and verdure of the shores as contrasted with the vegetation of Iceland, and desirous to encourage emigration to the place, gave it the name of Greenland. On bis return, he gave an exaggerated description of the newly-discovered land, in consequence of which a fleet of twenty-five sail was equipped and sent out, laden with persons of both sexes, cattle, and other necessaries for forming a settlement. Only about the half of the vessels reached their destination, but other adventurers setting out, not only from Iceland, but from Norway, the Orkneys, and other islands, in a few years a respectable colony was formed, and a regular trade established. It seems highly probable that the original colony of Greenland began about the southern promontory, near Cape Farewell, and gradually extended itself along the coast in a north-westerly direction. Beyond this first settlement another proceeded farther to the west. The former was called Oestre Bygd, or the eastern settlement, and the latter Vestre Bygd, or the western settlement. Christianity having been introduced about the beginning of the eleventh century, numerous churches and convents were built, and the country was divided into regular parishes, to which monks and other spiritual instructors were attached. The colonists, although compelled to lead a life of severe privation and hardship, continued to increase, and to extend to the north. The zeal with which the early Scandinavians pushed their settlements to the northernmost parts of Greenland is strikingly attested by a curious monument, which was discovered in 1824. It consists of a stone carved with Runic characters, which was found standing erect in the ground on the island of Kingiktorsoak, under the parallel of 73°.^[1. The following is a translation of the inscription by Dr Rafer, secretary of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen ;— “Erling Sigvatson, and Bjarne Thordanon, and Endride Oddson, erected these memorial stones, and cleared the place, on Saturday before Gagndag (the 2ñth of ApriD, in the year 1135.” ]

For some centuries the commercial intercourse between Greenland and Norway was kept up; but about the beginning[7:10:756] of the fifteenth century all intercourse ceased, and the unfortunate colonists were cut off from the rest of mankind. The Esquimaux, the natives of the country, whom in derision the Norwegians called Screenings, or Dwarfs, on account of their diminutive stature, attacked the western colony, which was compelled to seek assistance from that which lay to the south-east. There can be little doubt that the scanty population was reduced by these savage invaders; but it was more effectually thinned by that dreadful pestilence called the black death, which desolated Europe from the year 1402 to 1404, and which extended its ravages even to Greenland. Such a waste of human life which necessarily accompanied this visitation could not readily be repaired in a thinly-peopled country. The colonies, it is believed, languished for nearly a hundred years afterwards, but became finally extinct about the commencement of the sixteenth century. This is the most probable account of the fate of the original settlers; but a notion very generally prevailed for a long time that the western settlement only had perished, the eastern one having escaped the calamity, but, from the vast accumulation of ice, had been secluded from all communication with the rest of the world. During the last century the court of Denmark repeatedly dispatched ships to ascertain if any of the eastern settlers still remained on that part of the coast which is now called East or Old Greenland, but without success. That any of the Norwegians originally settled on the eastern shores seems clearly a mistake, arising from a misapprehension of the words east and west. They do not apply to the shores of the country, but to the situation of the settlers upon the western coast with relation to one another. Thus the first colony, which was planted at the southern extremity of Greenland, was called the eastern settlement, and the term would naturally be frequently applied to distinguish that part of the country which it occupied; whilst the second colony, which stretched to the north-west, and seems to have been perfectly distinct from the other, although they maintained a mutual intercourse, was called the western settlement. During the last hundred years the Danes have formed numerous colonies upon the western side of Greenland, amounting to above twenty in number, and stretching from the sixtieth to the seventy-third degrees of north latitude. The whale fisheries have greatly contributed to the advancement of the colonies; and from the intimate intercourse which is now kept up with Europeans, their condition is at present more flourishing than that of the ancient settlers.

There are eighteen Danish settlements, and some smaller establishments; the former are called colonies, and the latter factories. All the settlements extend from Nen-nortalik, in the south, to Upernavik, in the seventy-fourth degree of north latitude, and they are divided into two inspectorships. The northern inspectorship contains ten settlements. 1. The colony of Upernavik, which is the most northerly settlement. 2. The colony of Uma-nak, formerly Noogsoak, which was founded in 1758. It is distinguished by its excellent seal fishery, which is carried on by the Greenlanders in their kajaks or small boats, and upon the ice, and by the Danish garrison with nets, which are let down between the openings of the ice. There are here coal mines, which supply the colony with that article. 3. The colony of Ritenbenk, founded in 1725. Large quantities of seal-blubber and sealskins are obtained from the natives. 4. The colony of Ja-kobshavn, or Jacob’s Haven, founded in 1741, was for some time one of the most advantageous establishments in Disco Bay. 5. The colonies of Christianshaab or Christian’s Hope, founded in 1734. 6. The factory of Claus-havn, under it, founded in 1752, both in Disco Bay. They have a good fishery of seals and white fish, but the whale fishery is more precarious. 7. The colony of Ege-desminde, or Egede’s Memory, in Disco Bay, founded in the year 1759 by Captain Egede, and called after his father, Hans Egede. It consists of a great many large and small islands. The proper settlement is on the island of Ausict. Between this and the Fox Island (Roevoe) there is a remarkably safe harbour. A great many seals are caught here, especially in nets; but the collecting of eider-down is the most important branch of industry. 8. The factories of Kronprindsens, Eiland, &c. 9. Hunde-Eiland, or Dog Island, both in Disco Bay, are settlements for the whale fishery. The first was settled in 1778, and consists of fifty large and small islands, in which there is a great deal of scurvy-grass and good turf moor. 10. The factory of Godhavn, or Good Haven, in Disco Island. The settlers subsist chiefly by the whale fishery and the produce of a coal mine, by which the settlements in Disco Bay are supplied with that article.

In the southern inspectorship there are eight settlements. 1. The colony of Holsteenborg, which was founded in 1759. 2. Kirgurtursuk. 3. Omanarsuk. These settlements subsist chiefly by the whale fishery; but about a thousand pounds of eider-down are annually collected. 4. The colony of Ny-Sukkertop is one of the most important settlements, on account of the quantity of scalblubber which is procured there; and it has one of the safest and best harbours in the country. The colony, which was founded in the year 1755, under the name of Sukkertop, but in the year 1783 was removed much farther to the south, under the present name, is named after three pointed hills, which, at a distance, resemble sugar-loaves. 5. The colony of Godthaab, or Good Hope, the oldest in the country, was first founded in the year 1721, by Hans Egede, on the island of Kangek, which is called by the Danes Haabets-OE, or Island of Hope, but was in 1728 removed to the continent. There belong to this colony, 6. The factory of Fiskernaes, Fisher Point, or Fisher Cape, founded in 1754. The Danes here carry on the seal fishery with nets which are fifty fathoms long, and often longer, and eight or ten fathoms deep; they are set between the islands which the seals frequent, so that numbers are taken at one draught. The settlements of the Moravian brethren are, New Herrnhut, in the neighbourhood of Godthaab, founded in 1733; and Lichtenfels, not far from Fiskernaes, founded in 1758. Here there are many remains of ancient dwellings. 7. The colony of Frederikshaab, or Frederick’s Hope, founded in 1742. 8. The colony of Julianeshaab, or Juliana’s Hope. This, the most southerly, and, on account of a pretty certain purchase of seal-blubber, seal-skins, and foxes skins, the most important colony, was founded in 1775, and its district extends to the most southerly point of Greenland, Statenhuk, and beyond it to a certain distance along the east side.

The population of these settlements has been reckoned at about 7000. For the administration of the colonies and the trade, there are two inspectors, and about thirty superior officers, with a number of subordinate functionaries. All these settlements are situated on the sea shore, the interior of the country being little known or visited. The other parts of Greenland will be described in the order in which they were discovered.

We shall now give a brief outline of the discovery of [7:10:757]I. the other parts of the arctic regions, which in general has accidentally resulted from the numerous attempts made to penetrate from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean by a north-west passage. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Frobisher, a distinguished English navigator, made several voyages to this quarter of the globe. In 1577 he discovered the straits which have been called after him, In the year 1585, Davis, another able seaman, came in sight of high land, which he called Mount Raleigh, being part of Cumberland Island, which lies on the west of the straits bearing the discoverer’s name. In 1610 Hudson discovered the straits and the bay which are called after him, in which he experienced a disastrous termination to his useful career. To certain rocky islands lying about the parallel of sixty-four degrees he gave the name of Isles of God’s Mercy. He also discovered two capes, one of which was called Digge’s Cape, and the other Willoughby Cape. In 1616, Baffin, another distinguished English navigator, discovered Baffin’s Bay. A large inlet of the sea at the top of the former was called Smith’s Sound, after one of the chief promoters of discovery. From the period in question until within the last fifteen or sixteen years, no discoveries of any great importance were made in this quarter. In the year 1818 the admiralty fitted out two expeditions; one of which, under the command of Captain Ross, was destined for the discovery of the northwest passage; and the other, at the head of which was Lieutenant Parry, had for its object to attempt a voyage across the pole. On the continent of Greenland the first-named navigator discovered a high mountainous region to the north of Upernavik, to which, from national predilections, he gave the name of the Arctic Highlands. It is little else than a mass of rocks, intermingled with immense blocks of ice. He then proceeded to the northern extremity of Baffin’s Bay, which he explored, and estimated Smith’s Sound to be in lat. 77° 45'. The coast was surveyed, the positions ascertained, and the appearance of the land, the situation of the islands, and the general form of the bay itself, established; thus confirming the discoveries of Baffin, which had formerly been disputed. But the most important additions to our geographical knowledge of these northern regions were made by Captain Parry, who undertook several voyages of discovery. Lancaster Sound was all along supposed to be only a large bay; an opinion which had received support from Captain Ross, who, in the course of his voyage, made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the extremity of it. Captain Parry, however, thought otherwise, and in 1819-1820 he succeeded in penetrating through it, and establishing what had been much contested, the existence of a polar sea north of America. During his voyage up the narrow sea, and nearly directly westward, several headlands and wide openings towards the north and south were descried, and hastily named in passing, Croker Bay, Navy Board, Burnet Stratton, Prince Regent and Wellington Inlets, Maxwell Bay, and the archipelago, to which he gave the name of the North Georgian Islands. A narrow strait, which forms a continuation of Lancaster Sound, was called Barrow’s Strait. Melville Island, the most westerly of these, is upwards of a hundred miles in length, and of about the same breadth, and lies in lat. 75° north. Here this enterprising discoverer spent two years, and braved all the rigours of an arctic winter. The sun disappeared from the horizon on the 4th of November, and was not seen till the third of February following. No inhabitants were found on these islands, and the vegetable productions were few and short-lived. Land and sea were covered by a thick sheet of snow, and the thermometer during their stay averaged about sixty degrees below the freezing point. Bathurst Island and Cornwallis Island, which lie to the eastward of that upon which Parry wintered, are also of considerable size. The latter is separated by Wellington Channel from an extensive coast, which received the name of North Devon, and reaches to the shores of Baffin’s Bay; but it is not known whether it forms a continuous tract with Greenland, or is composed of one or more islands.

In a subsequent voyage he explored what is denominated Melville Peninsula, a coast hitherto undescribed. He also succeeded in sailing up a narrow channel which separates Melville Peninsula from Cockburn Isle, and called it the Strait of the Fury and Hecla, after the vessels under his command.

A tract of country four hundred miles in length, and situated on the east coast of Greenland, was explored by Captains Scoresby and Clavering. It received the general appellation of the Liverpool Coast, whilst individual parts of it, bays, inlets, headlands, and the like, were named after persons eminent in science, or after private friends. There is here a mountain chain, which rises to the height of 3000 or 4000 feet, forming precipitous clifl⅛, which terminate in numberless peaks, cones, and pyramids. The coast was surveyed as far up as the parallel of 75°, where it was seen still to extend in a northerly direction as far as the eye could reach.

The aspect of a country subjected during the greater part of the year to an intense degree of cold, and also for several months deprived of the light of the sun, must of course be dreary and desolate in the extreme. A fall of snow in the midst of what is here called summer, only because it is not so dismal as the other parts of the year, is by no means uncommon. Towards the end of autumn it begins to descend in a regular succession of showers, which continue until every object is buried beneath a sheet of dazzling whiteness. Ice also begins to form about this time, first upon small streams and lakes, then upon larger ones and inlets of the sea, and finally upon the ocean itselfļ a vast extent of the surface of which is bound together by a solid chain of frost.

At Melville Island, Captain Parry found that the ice formed a thickness of from three to five inches around the sides of the ships in the space of four and twenty hours. In one instance, whilst the thermometer was twelve degrees below zero, he observed it to acquire in that time seven and a half inches in thickness. Ere the frost has reached its highest degree of intensity, the air deposits its moisture in the form of a fog, which freezes into a fine gossamer netting or into spicular icicles, dispersed throughout the atmosphere. The surface of the ocean also assumes a very remarkable aspect. It steams like a lime kiln, a phenomenon called the frost smoke, and caused, as in the other instances of the production of vapour, by the water being still warmer than the superincumbent atmosphere. As the cold increases both these appearances vanish; the air clears; and the sea, cooled down to the same standard, becomes a solid floor of congealed salt water. Winter now broods over the frozen continent in darkness unbroken save by the light of the moon and the stars, which serve to reveal the desolation of the scene. Haloes and other luminous meteors are also more numerous here than in lower latitudes. But the aurora borealis, in particular, is highly serviceable in breaking the monotonous gloom of an arctic winter. This brilliant meteor plays incessantly in fantastic coruscations, which have the apI>earance of very vivid sheet lightning, and keep up an almost constant illumination. But this serves only to discover the utter dreariness of all around. Captain Parry observes, “The sound of voices, which, during the cold weather, could be heard at a much greater distance than usual, served now and then to break the silence which reigned around us; a silence far different from that peaceable composure which characterizes the landscape of a cultivated country; it was the death-like stillness of tile most dreary desolation, and the total absence of animated [7:10:758]existence.” During this cheerless period of the year, the natives, thickly covered with bearskins, remain immersed in their miserable huts, and, crowded around the stove or lamp, contrive to doze away the long and tedious night. The inside of the hut, all openings in the walls of which are carefully stopped, to exclude the piercing cold, become covered with a crust of ice; and if for an instant an aperture be made so as to admit the external air, the moisture within becomes precipitated in a shower of snow. When the frost is intensely severe, the rocks are sometimes heard to split with a loud noise; and the food of the inmates of these ice houses becomes frequently so hard as to require to be cut by a hatchet. It may be remarked, however, that the external darkness prevails only during a part of the day. Twilight exists whenever the sun is less depressed than eighteen degrees below the horizon; the limits of total obscuration occur in the latitude of 84∣ o , at mid-day in the winter solstice. During their detention at Melville Island, in the latitude of 74° 40 ’, Captain Parry’s party could see to read the smallest print at noon in the middle of winter. After the sun has appeared above the horizon, and towards the end of May, the half-famished inhabitants venture forth in search of fish on the shores of the sea. In June and July the sun becomes vertical, and is always above the horizon. The heat, thus greatly augmented, gradually dissolves the chain of ice, vast masses of which, detached from the cliffs, descend on the shores with a crash like thunder. The icy covering of the ocean breaks, and, separated into vast masses, is driven about, dissevered, and dispersed, by the violence of the winds and currents. Some portions, more firmly consolidated than the rest, remain undissolved, by which several striking phenomena are produced. In particular situations, the ice of successive years is piled up into immense glaciers, the foundations of which being sapped by the sea, they descend in prodigious masses, and, being floated far into the ocean, present to the mariner a bright but fearful spectacle, by reflecting in varied tints the rays of light, yet threatening, if come into contact with, to crush to pieces the stoutest vessel. Not unfrequently they are borne to a great distance, even into lower latitudes, and at all times are appalling to the navigator, and dangerous to his bark, however strongly built. In these high latitudes, although the summer is short, the temperature is frequently oppressively sultry on land, which causes great humidity in the atmosphere; a characteristic of the arctic regions. During a period of spring and autumn, when the sun revolves in a small but complete circle above the horizon, the skies assume hues more varied and beautiful than those observed in any other climate.

The mineral productions of the arctic regions are of considerable interest to the geologist, inasmuch as some of the most precious minerals and ores have here been found. Only the shores of the country, however, have been examined, the interior remaining unexplored, on account of the eternal ice and snow under which it is buried. The east coast of Greenland is rugged and mountainous, the average elevation being about 3Ō00 feet. There is a range called Werner Mountains, on the Liverpool Coast, which were estimated, by the distance from which they were seen, and the elevation which they assumed above the ordinary mountains, at about 6000 feet in height. The rocks, as far as they have been examined, are of the primitive formation, consisting of granite, gneiss, mica slate, hornblende slate, syenite, and clay slate. These are similar to the primitive rocks found in Britain and other countries. There are two formations of the secondary rocks, one aqueous, the other igneous. The Neptunian rocks belong to the first secondary sandstone, or coal formation; the Plutonic rocks to the. secondary trap and porphyry series. The coal formation is similar to that which abounds in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and contains impressions and casts of plants which are characteristic of a tropical climate. On Melville Island, which lies in latitude 75°, specimens of the coal formation were found by Professor Jameson to contain impressions of such vegetable productions as grow within the tropics; a very interesting fact, as connected with the change of temperature which the earth appears to have undergone. The most northern part of the coast of East Greenland examined by Captain Clavering was mountainous, and principally composed of trap rocks. The west coast of Greenland is similar to that above described. The elevated parts of the country are for the most part covered with snow or ice; and in summer, although rivers appear, which are fed by the melting of the ice and snow, they are few in number and small in size. There are also lakes, some of which are of considerable magnitude, and supplied from the same source as the rivers. Springs likewise burst forth, and Giesecke mentions a tidal spring, which rises and falls with the tide, and a thermal spring, which maintains a temperature of 104°, and flows, uninterrupted by cold or storm, during the whole of the year. The islands upon this coast, of which the largest is called Disco, are similar to the continent, presenting the same bleak and wintry sterility upon a smaller scale. Four classes of rocks have been found on the coast of West Greenland; namely, primitive, secondary, tertiary, and alluvial. In the first of these, various curious and rare minerals occur, such as the cryolite, gadolinite, zircon, and tourmaline, and numerous precious stones, such as garnets, sodalite, iolite, rock-crystal, and the like. In the secondary and tertiary rocks, limestone containing fishes, and embedded amber, have been found. The geology of the islands and countries discovered by Captain Parry presents nothing very remarkable. The prevailing rocks were found to be primitive. The lands bordering on Baffin’s Bay, and the islands lying at the northern extremity of it, are not much elevated above the level of the sea, the average height being 800 feet, and the highest elevations not exceeding 1500 feet.

The vegetation of a soil which for two thirds of the year is bound together by intense frost, and covered with snow several feet thick, cannot be supposed to present much variety or beauty. Even the hardy race of pine trees, which in North America during severe cold withstand the fury of the northern tempest, if they make their appearance at all within the arctic circle, dwindle into stunted shrubs, which only rise a few feet above the ground, throwing out lateral branches. But to supply this deficiency, and afford to the Esquimaux the means of making their arms and utensils, considerable quantities of drift timber are frequently thrown up on the barren shores. The most abundant plants are mosses and lichens; and these are not only copiously produced, but they possess a nutritious and salutary quality, which does not characterise those of the same species that grow in more temperate climates. Mushrooms and ferns also find the means of subsistence here; and there is a thick tufted juicy plant, of extreme fecundity, emphatically called scurvy-grass, on account of its acting as an antidote to scurvy. The different species of sorrel, especially the rumex digynus, were found by Captain Parry flourishing under the snow at the very farthest limits of vegetation. These are likewise antidotes to scurvy. During the short gleam of summer some beautiful specimens of the floral tribe adorn the northern fields, but the more precious fruits do not ripen under this ungenial sky. The order alga or sea-weed, especially the species or tribe fuel, grows in great abundance, and covers the Greenland coast with submarine meadows. The singular phenomenon of red snow, which has excited so much interest, is now supposed to result from an assemblage of very minute vegetable bodies belonging to [7:10:759]the class of cryptogamie plants, and the natural order called alg<ε. The arctic mountains on which Captain Rose observed the red snow are about 800 feet high, and extend eight miles in length. Although snow is not the natural situation of this plant, it possesses a great tenacity of life, and not only preserves its vitality in winter, but, during the partial thawing of the snow, it multiplies so as to cover a vast expanse with red suffusion.

Although vegetation be scanty and unimportant in the arctic regions, there is a remarkable profusion of animal life. The sea, in particular, swarms with living beings, some of which are of a magnitude far surpassing any thing to be met with elsewhere. The grand article of food for supporting these numerous tribes is the genus Medusa of Linnaeus, graphically called by seamen seablubber. These animals are of a soft, gelatinous consistence, and they abound to an extraordinary extent. By far the most numerous of the medusan tribes, however, can only be discerned by the microscope; but so plentiful are they, that about a fourth part of the Greenland sea is tinged of an olive-green colour by them. This portion of the ocean is considered as the polar pasture ground, where whales are always to be met with in greatest numbers; and here also are found those less gigantic tribes upon which whales prey. Animals of the class Crustacea stand next in number and importance. Here are various species of the crab, and above all of the shrimp, whose multitudes rival those of the Medusa, and whose carnivorous propensities, as we are informed by Parry, are remarkably strong. Many of the zoophitical and moluscous orders, and several species of marine worms, also abound. But the cetaceous tribes are by far the largest in size, and most important to mankind, of the numerous living beings which people the northern seas. Of these the whale possesses the most enormous bulk, being sometimes sixty feet in length. They have even been found of a considerably larger size; an<į there is at present ( 1835) exhibiting in Edinburgh the skeleton of one which is seventy-five feet long. Of whales there is a considerable variety; and the catching of them has long been a lucrative speculation, on account of the oil which is derived from them. All the shores and borders of the arctic zone are crowded with huge amphibious races, which seem to form an intermediate link between whales and quadrupeds, between the mammalia of the ocean and those of the land. Amongst these is the morse or walrus, a large and shapeless creature, measuring from twelve to fifteen feet in length, and from eight to ten in circumference. Seals are very numerous, and constitute both the food and the clothing of the Esquimaux. Herrings are also found in immense shoals amid the depths of the arctic zone. Amongst land animals is the polar bear, whose prowess and daring render him one of the most formidable of quadrupeds. The rein-deer are pretty numerous in the arctic regions during summer, and afford a favourite object of chase. Their flesh is good, and the skin forms a very comfortable article of clothing. The musk-ox penetrates the arctic zone, but in smaller numbers, and it likewise affords a wholesome article of food. Several species of the canine race are here met with in abundance. Wolves in large packs are found to brave the utmost severity of a polar winter; and the arctic fox is met with in great numbers. The dog, however, is the most important quadruped, and the most valuable to the Esquimaux, who have succeeded in taming and rendering it subservient to them in travelling and in hunting. Yoked to a sledge, these animals can draw a great weight with very considerable rapidity. The air, like the sea, is thickly peopled with appropriate inhabitants. The auk, the petrel, and the gull, in clustered myriads darken the sky, and make the rocks and shores re-echo with their wild clang. Vast flights of the swan, the goose, and the duck, also traverse these regions; and great flocks of that species of duck called the eider, whose down is so valuable, arrive in spring on the most northern shores of Greenland. Amongst other arctic birds are terns, which produce the most delicate eggs of any water bird; the colymbus (guillemot), whose skin affords a comfortable article of clothing; the tringa (sand-piper); the diaradrius (plover); and the tetrao (grouse and ptarmigan).

The native inhabitants of these countries are the Esquimaux, a race widely diffused over the shores of the Northern Ocean. The leading features of this people, as observed by different travellers in different parts of the arctic regions, possess considerable uniformity; and by comparing ancient authorities with those of a more recent date, they appear to have remained the same for ages. It is believed that the Samoiedes and Kamtschadales, in Northern Asia, belong to the same family. They are not only similar to them in personal appearance, in habits, character, modes of life, and in the rude arts which they practise, but also in the language which they employ. There are different dialects in use amongst the Esquimaux, but they all display affinities which prove them to have sprung from a common root; and this affords a presumption that an original race from some quarter of the globe has at some distant period spread over these immense and dreary solitudes. Hence it is by no means improbable that at an early period the Esquimaux connected the two continents which were otherwise entirely ignorant of the existence of each other.

Like the vegetation of these high latitudes, the human figure is dwarfish in size, and decidedly below the European standard. A man five feet nine inches in height is considered as a person of gigantic stature, and, compared with the average altitude to which they attain, as possessing amongst them the same superiority of size which a person six feet two or three inches in height does amongst us. The body is somewhat thick, but the hands and feet are small, and the fingers short. The face is generally round and flat, with prominent cheek bones, but full and plump cheeks. They are tolerably well shaped; and the female countenance, although destitute of all pretensions to regular beauty, has a frank and good-humoured expression; and if they would allow it to be purified of its thick incrustation of grease and dirt, it might even be accounted handsome. The flesh of these people is soft and flabby, and they have a phlegmatic constitution corresponding to this habit. The dress of the men consists chiefly in a double coat of the rein-deer; the hairy side of the inner one being placed next the skin, whilst to the outer one there is an ample hood attached, which is drawn over the head. The breeches are also double, and of the same material, overlapping the boots, which extend to the knee; the latter are composed either of deer skin, or, if for hunting or travel, of the hide of the seal or the walrus. The dress of the females is very nearly the same, with some slight variations in form. The chief distinction lies in their boots, which are of capacious dimensions, and, like those of Hudibras, receptacles for whatever sort of goods may come in the way of the wearer. These habiliments are rather neatly sewed together, an art in which the women display considerable dexterity. The thread they use is the sinews and some other parts of animals. There is also some taste shown in decorating them with parti-coloured stripes of skins. Like other savages, they are fond of ornaments, and contrive also to paint their bodies.

Under such a rigorous climate, much labour is necessary to secure subsistence. For nine months the ground is locked up in frost, and rendered incapable of producing any root or herb which can constitute a staple article of diet. They are, moreover, improvident, in consequence [7:10:760]l∙of which, combined with the precarious supply of food, * they are often subjected to severe privation. Yet they are proof against the lessons of experience, and so happy is their disposition, that a moment’s gratification of their wants makes them forget that they had ever suffered from hunger, or that on the morrow they may again be in the same distress. Hunting and fishing are their only resources, and of course their time is spent in pursuing, by land or sea, the wild animals by which these are inhabited. During summer, the deer is pursued with bow and arrow or the gun. and their flesh and skin are highly prized. But for the greater part of the year the Esquimaux must seek their food in the waters. In these are found plenty of cetaceous fishes, the seal, the walrus, and the whale. For the purposes of respiration, these animals rise above the water, and the moment they become visible, the Esquimaux attack them with dart or harpoon, to which they have sometimes a long line attached. The capture of a whale is the greatest of their marine achievements. On these occasions a large body of men assemble armed with a variety of weapons. The animal, when struck, plunges under water; but being obliged to rise for air, a fresh attack is made upon him, until, exhausted by fatigue and loss of blood, he falls an easy prey. These captures are shared amongst the inhabitants of the village, all the cooking pots in which are put in requisition when the arrival of one is announced, for the purpose of boiling the flesh of the animal, which is cut up into dainty slices. The cooking being finished, the feast commences by a person first extracting a large piece from the pot, and, after severing with his teeth as much as the mouth will hold, handing it to a second person, who does the same, and he to a third, and so on till the whole is devoured. There seems to be no assignable limits to the capacity of an Esquimaux stomach. He has been known to devour, in twenty-four hours, ten pounds four ounces of solid food, more than a pint of strong soup, and a gallon and a pint of water.

The attack of the polar bear is undertaken by a single Esquimaux, assisted only by his dogs, without the slightest fear or hesitation, in which case we cannot deny them the merit of great personal courage. The dogs keep the ferocious animal at bay, assailing him on all sides, whilst the master with his spear attacks the bear, and avoids, with astonishing adroitness, the furious springs of the enraged monster. In reflective intellect the Esquimaux have little to boast of. Although some of them are arch, ingenious, and jocular, no manifestations of a profound understanding have yet been discovered amongst them. In arithmetical skill they are lamentably deficient, being scarcely capable of counting as far as ten; and their taste for music is nearly at as low an ebb. Some of them, however, display a constructive talent, in exercising which the principal tool employed is the knife. Their houses are built in the following manner: When winter approaches, the ice is cut into tall square blocks, with which they construct regular spacious domes, connected with other smaller ones, for the purposes of domestic economy. For the admission of light, a round hole is cut on one side of the roof of each apartment, and a circular plate of ice, three or four inches thick, and two or three feet in diameter, is inserted in it. The light is soft and agreeable, similar to that which is transmitted by ground glass, and is quite sufficient for every purpose as long as there is any light to be derived from without. The inside of the tenement is shaped with care, and a glossy surface is then given to it by the affusion of water. The wall soon becomes a solid mass, which, being a slow conductor, checks the access of cold. It may be remarked, that the external darkness only lasts during a part of the day. “When after some time," says Captain Parry, “these edifices become covered with drift, it is only by the windows that they could be discovered as human habitations. It may then perhaps be imagined how singular is their external appearance at night, when they discover themselves only by a circular disc of light transmitted through the windows from the lamps within." The length of the best of seven canoes belonging to a tribe of Esquimaux inhabiting Winter Island, was found by Captain Parry to be. twenty-five feet, the extreme breadth twenty-one inches, and the depth ten inches and a half. “The skin with which the canoe is covered is exclusively that of the small seal, prepared by scraping off the hair and fat with a knife, and stretching it tight on a frame over the fire, after which, and a good deal of chewing, it is sewn on by the women with admirable neatness and strength.” In managing these boats they display great dexterity, even in the most boisterous weather. As mechanics they have little to boast of; but the Esquimaux of Greenland appear to be rather more skilful than the people described by Captain Parry. “The men,” says Egede, “meddle with no work at home but what concerns their tools for hunting and fishing-tackling viz. their boats, bows, arrows, and the like. All other work, even of building and repairing the houses, belongs to the women. As dexterous and skilful as the men are at their work, so the women are not behind hand with them, but, according to their way and manner, deserve to be praised and admired.” Captain Beechey found indications of considerable constructive talent in the vicinity of Behring’s Strait; and Captain Franklin saw amongst the Esquimaux whom he met at Upper Savage Island, Hudson’s Strait, imitations of men, women, quadrupeds, and birds, carved with labour and ingenuity out of sea-horse teeth.

In their moral character the Esquimaux inherit more than an average share of human frailty. Few savage tribes have made themselves more notorious for dishonest and thievish dispositions. Little respect indeed is entertained for the rights of property; gratitude is a virtue almost unknown amongst them; and in their habits they are exceedingly licentious, connubial infidelity being winked at as a very unimportant matter. They also display little or no sympathy or regret for the sufferings and death of neighbours, or even of relations. The Esquimaux, however, are not inclined to war; they are neither irascible nor revengeful; and they treat their ofl⅛pring with the greatest tenderness. From the account given by Captain Parry of the inhabitants of Winter Island, they would appear to possess a higher moral character than that of any other of the tribes visited by Europeans. In their domestic economy, however, they are uniformly filthy, and disgusting in the extreme. “The Greenlanders,” says Egede, “in their manners and common way of life, are very slovenly, nasty, and filthy; they seldom wash themselves, will eat out of plates and bowls after their dogs without cleansing them, and, what is most nauseous to behold, eat lice and such like vermin which they find upon themselves or others. They will scrape the sweat off their faces with a knife, and lick it up.” Captain Lyon’s description of the interior of an Esquimaux tent is to the same effect. He found accumulated “an immense heap of flesh, blubber, bones, birds, eggs, &c. which lie at the mercy of the heels of all who enter; the juices forming an intolerably filthy mud on the shingle floor. From this profusion of delicacies thus jumbled together, it may be unnecessary to add that the food of the family is selected as wanted.” Details similar to the above are given by others who have visited these countries, but they are too disgusting to be quoted here.

In their religious superstitions the Esquimaux believe in a principal female deity, who is called Aywillaiyoo. She is immensely tall, having only the left eye, and a profuse allowance of pigtail, which descends to her knee, [7:10:761] being of a corresponding thickness. There is a chief magician, whose business is to invoke this goddess from the shades below for the purpose of giving responses to the questions of her devotees. This divinity has a giant for her father, who is fortunately?however, only furnished with one arm. Besides these mutilated deities, there are in the Esquimaux pantheon, Pamiooli, a spirit frequently invoked; and a huge bear, whose place of habitation is in the cold bosom of the eternal ice. The natives unanimously believe in a future state of blessedness, where the souls of the departed revel unchecked amidst all manner of sensual delights. They descend beneath the earth through four successive abodes, in the last of which perfect happiness is enjoyed. Here, on the margin of fresh lakes which never freeze, and in whose lucid waters the seal and the walrus abound, the blessed souls pitch their tents, and enjoy perpetual summer. The sun never sets; the deer and the birds range within bow-shot of their habitations, and are easily killed; the sea is always transparent, and the whales roll about so very tame, that they are with little difficulty harpooned, and towed to shore. Thus employed in their favourite amusements, and enjoying the feasting by which these are followed, the Esquimaux believe that their happy souls will enjoy, in a future state of existence, an eternal immunity from those harassing cares and hardships which they are doomed to endure in this world. With such fond anticipations of coming bliss do these poor savages contrive to cheer a life of extreme privation, in a state little elevated above that of the animals on which they subsist.

Such are the general features of the Esquimaux character and their mode of life, as delineated by various Europeans who have visited the countries which they inhabit From the reports of the Moravian missionaries, those Esquimaux who are in more intimate connection with the Danes would appear to have become somewhat more civilized than the rest of their tribe who have not enjoyed the same means of improvement. The following account of their character and habits is derived from a German work of celebrity, In winter the Greenlanders dwell in houses, and in summer in tents. The houses are built of large stones, between which earth and moss are laid. The walls are very thick, and upon them a beam is placed lengthwise, across which rafters are laid. The intervening spaces are filled with small wood, over which, first a layer of heath, then another of turf, is heaped, the whole being covered with old boat or tent skins. Internally this fabric is laid out with some attention to comfort. It is divided into apartments, and two or three families generally live under one roof. The windows are made of the entrails of animals neatly sewed together; they admit the light, but are impermeable to rain. In every division of the house there is a fire-place, a lamp made of talc, and a kettle of the same material placed over it. By these fires and lamps a considerable degree of heat is kept up, which is also increased by the smoke, there being no regular chimney for its escape, and in general no door. The place of both is imperfectly supplied by a low covered passage of stones and earth, built on the long side of the house, and opening to the sea. As soon as the snow melts, the Greenlanders quit their wintry habitations, and erect their tents, which are of two kinds; one of these is of a pretty solid construction, and such as forms a fixed summer residence; the other is of a lighter nature, and can easily be removed from place to place. It generally consists of poles,upon which the skinsof animalsarestretch-ed. In their dress, the Greenlanders wear, besides a coat and breeches similar to those already described, stockings made of the skin of a young seal, shoes of the same material tanned, and shirts made of the skins of birds, the feathers being worn inwards. The men have also a seal-skin covering when they go to sea, and sometimes a frock 1 made of entrails for the purpose of keeping them dry. The men wear their hair short, but the women bind it in tufts over the crown of their heads. The boats consist of a light frame-work of wood, which is covered with sealskins. There are two kinds of them; one large for the transport of goods and for the conveyance of women; the other small, and fitted to hold only one man. The top of the latter, which is called a kajak, is covered over with seal-skin, but in the middle there is a round opening for the reception of the Greenlander, who, here seated, pro-pells himself through the deep by means of an oar, which is furnished with a broad blade at each end. With this slender vessel he swims over the billows like a sea bird, and without much dread of tempests. Upon the water the Greenlander pursues seals, birds, and whales. The former constitutes his chief wealth. It serves for food, for clothing, for covering his habitation, and its blubber supplies him with oil for his lamp. The weapons which he wields are harpoons, lances, and spears of various kinds, which he throws with great dexterity. The gun is also employed in destroying seals, but this method is not so successful as the others to which he has recourse. The whale fishery is only carried on by the Greenlanders in conjunction with the Danes. Some of the lines which they employ in fishing are made of thin slips of whalebone tied together; and they are often more than 200 fathoms in length. With these they catch certain kinds of fish peculiar to the arctic seas. They also spear salmon and salmon trout; and sometimes build dams at the mouths of rivers to facilitate the capture of these fish. Hunting is more an amusement to the Greenlanders than a source of wealth, and it is chiefly confined to the chase of the rein-deer. They now employ fire-arms instead of the bows and arrows which were formerly in use. The flesh of the deer is a favourite article of food, but the animal has now become scarce. A kind of smelt, dried in the open air, serves the Greenlander for bread and vegetables. These fish are caught in great abundance during summer, and they are stored up in leather bags for winter provision. The heads and the legs of seals are preserved under the grass in summer, and whole ones under the snow in winter. Various kinds of berries, roots, and herbs are used as food; and bears’ flesh, together with the tails and skins of whales, are favourite dishes. Train oil, according to our authority, does not constitute an article of diet with the Greenlanders; and in their domestic habits they are not so abominably filthy as the other races of Esquimaux, although from their poverty and lazy habits they are very uncleanly. In their moral deportment the Greenlanders are said to be more amiable than the other races of Esquimaux already described. They are sociable, open hearted, cheerful, and contented. They live in great harmony with each other, and a propensity to thieving is by no means a feature of their character. This, however, can only apply to those who may be said to be immediately in connection with the Moravian missionary stations. They all possess a considerable degree of self-esteem, national pride, and vanity; and, like the rest of their race, they are careless of the future, spending the best part of the summer more in amusing themselves by hunting the rein-deer, than in laying up a stock of fish for the winter. Their religious creed is similar to that which is professed by the Esquimaux in general, but many of them have adopted all the external forms of Christianity. The Moravians, besides labouring in their pious avocations themselves, have educated some of the natives as missionaries, whose preaching has been productive of good. But the conversion of the Greenlanders advances very slowly, and exerts little influence over their moral ideas. They are inclined to look upon the Christian worship as a useless[7:10:762] ceremony, whilst they consider criminal punishment as an unjust abuse of power. They moreover accuse the Danes and other European visitors of having introduced amongst them the double scourge of small-pox and spirituous liquors. Their language is remarkable for the copiousness of its grammatical forms. Their particles are as numerous and as varied as in the Greek; but the rule which directs them to introduce into the verb all the parts of the sentence, gives rise to words of a disproportionate length. The consonants r, k, and t predominate in this language, and produce harsh sounds by their frequent recurrence. The Greenlanders of the north speak a dialect unintelligible to those of the southļ according to Captain Ross it is called Kumooke. The Greenlanders sometimes call themselves Innauh, or brothers; but their real national name appears to be Kaĭaìit, and they commonly designate their country by the name of Kalalit Nounet. Denmark, the mother country, sends out annually a vessel laden with provisions and the materials of trade, and receives in return skins, blubber, feathers, and the tusks of the narwal. The Greenland company established at Copenhagen estimates its annual revenue at from L.20,000 to L.25,000 sterling. According to the statistics of Denmark for 1832, the population of Greenland amounts to 7000. This probably only includes those who hold allegiance to the Danes; of the amount of population scattered over the arctic territories, no conjecture approaching to the truth can be formed. (a. a. a.)