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[Illustration:
Old Greenland,
_as to its_
Eastern & Western Parts.
_Vulgo_
Oster Bygd & Wester Bygd
_Engraved for Egedes Greenland_ _by J. Smith, 1 Clements Inn, Strand_
_Pubᵈ. May 1ˢᵗ. 1818 by T. & J. Allman, Princes Street, Hanover
Square_]
A
DESCRIPTION OF GREENLAND.
BY HANS EGEDE,
WHO WAS A MISSIONARY IN THAT COUNTRY
FOR
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.
A NEW EDITION.
WITH AN
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
AND
A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.
ILLUSTRATED
WITH A MAP OF GREENLAND, AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
SECOND EDITION.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. AND J. ALLMAN,
PRINCES STREET, HANOVER SQUARE;
W. H. REID, CHARING CROSS; AND BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1818.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION i
LIFE OF THE AUTHOR xciii
CHAPTER I.
_Of the Situation and Extent of Greenland. Probability
of its forming Part of America_ 1
CHAP. II.
_First Settlement of Greenland, with some Thoughts on
the Extinction of the Norwegian Colonies; and whether
on the East Side no Remainders may be found
of the old Norwegians: also, whether the same Tract
of Land cannot be recovered_ 7
CHAP. III.
_Of the Nature of the Soil, Plants, and Minerals of Greenland_ 41
CHAP. IV.
_Of the Nature of the Climate, and the Temperament of the Air_ 50
CHAP. V.
_Of the Land Animals, and Land Fowls or Birds of
Greenland; and how they hunt and kill them_ 59
CHAP. VI.
_Of the Greenland Sea Animals, and Sea Fowls and
Fishes_ 66
CHAP. VII.
_Of the ordinary Occupations of the Greenlanders, as
Hunting and Fishing: of the Tools and Instruments
necessary for these Employments: of their House Implements
and Utensils_ 100
CHAP. VIII.
_Of the Inhabitants, their Houses, and House Furniture_ 113
CHAP. IX.
_Of the Persons, Complexion, and Temperament of the
Greenlanders_ 119
CHAP. X.
_Of the Customs, Virtues, and Vices, and the Manners
or Way of Life of the Greenlanders_ 123
CHAP. XI.
_Of their Habits and Way of Dressing_ 130
CHAP. XII.
_Of their Diet, and manner of dressing their Victuals_ 135
CHAP. XIII.
_Of their Marriages, and Education of their Children_ 140
CHAP. XIV.
_How the Greenlanders mourn and bury their dead
Friends_ 143
CHAP. XV.
_Of their Pastimes and Diversions, as also their Poetry_ 154
CHAP. XVI.
_Of their Language_ 163
CHAP. XVII.
_Of the Greenland Trade, and whether in promoting it
there is any advantage to be expected_ 179
CHAP. XVIII.
_The Religion, or rather Superstition, of the Greenlanders_ 183
CHAP. XIX.
_The Astronomy of the Greenlanders, or their Thoughts concerning
the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets_ 206
CHAP. XX.
_The Capacity of the Greenlanders, and their Inclination
towards the Knowledge of God, and the Christian Religion;
and by what Means this may easily be brought about_ 214
HISTORICAL
INTRODUCTION.
[Illustration]
The regions in the neighbourhood of the North Pole have lately become
the objects of increased curiosity; and among these regions Greenland
has attracted a more than usual interest. This country was first peopled
by a colony from Iceland, which occupied both the Western and Eastern
parts of the Island. The first settlers in the West appear to have been
destroyed by the natives, who are denominated Skrellings; and though a
communication was preserved for several centuries between the Eastern
coast of Greenland and some parts of the Danish territory, yet it was
interrupted about the close of the fourteenth century by accumulated
masses of ice, which formed an impenetrable barrier of considerable
extent around the shore; and though various attempts have been made, at
different times, to explore a passage through this frozen rampart, yet
there is no definite account of any attempt of this kind which has
hitherto been successful. May we hope that the execution of this
project, which is prompted, not only by curiosity but by philanthropy,
is reserved for the present era, and that it will be finally
accomplished by the nautical skill and enterprise of this country!
As we possess indubitable evidence that a considerable extent of this
coast was formerly occupied by a flourishing colony, and that it
contained numerous villages, with a bishop’s see, we cannot but be
anxious to know what has been the fate of so many human beings, so long
cut off from all intercourse with the more civilized world. Were they
destroyed by an invasion of the natives, like their countrymen on the
Western coast? or have they perished by the inclemency of the climate,
and the sterility of the soil? or do they still subsist? If they
subsist, it must greatly interest our curiosity to learn in what manner
they have vanquished the difficulties with which they have had to
contend, both from the climate and the soil, and the total privation of
all articles of European manufacture. In the novel circumstances in
which they have been placed, have the present race advanced or declined
in the degree of culture which their forefathers possessed? What
proficiency have they made? or what deterioration have they undergone?
Have they remained nearly stationary at the point of civilized existence
at which their ancestors were placed four centuries ago? or have they
entirely degenerated into a savage race, and preserved no memory nor
vestige of their original extraction from, and subsequent communication
with, the continent of civilized Europe? These are certainly points of
interesting research; and to which we cannot well be indifferent as
Christians, or, indeed, as human beings.
In the mean time, though we cannot yet supply any particulars respecting
the present state of the Eastern coast of Greenland, we think that the
readers of this new edition of Egede will not be displeased with us for
furnishing them with all the information which remains, respecting its
past state, as well as with some historical details, which will render
the present volume more complete than it would otherwise have been.
Greenland was first discovered by Eric, surnamed Rufus, or the Red, in
the year 981 or 982[1]. This chieftain was of Norwegian extraction. His
father had fled from Norway, and taken refuge in Iceland, in order to
avoid the vengeance which menaced him, on account of a murder which he
had perpetrated in his native land. Eric appears to have committed in
Iceland a crime similar to that for which his father had fled from
Norway. In endeavouring to escape the pursuit of justice, Eric
accidentally discovered the coast which is the present object of our
inquiry. He took his departure from Iceland at the port of Snæfellzness,
which is situate in a Western promontory of that island. He arrived in
the vicinity of a mountain called Midjokul[2]; or, as it is denominated
by others, Miklajokul. Peyrere interprets this, “_le grand glaçon_,”
the great mountain of ice. Subsequent navigators gave it the name of
Bloeserken, or Blue Smock, and others of Huidserken, or White Smock,
according to the variations in the hue of the ice in different aspects
and at different periods of the year.
Eric passed the first winter after his departure from Iceland in an
island which he called after his own name, Ericscun, and which Torfæus
places in the midst of the cultivated Eastern district. In the following
spring he entered one of the bays of Eastern Greenland, to which he gave
the name of Ericsfiord; and where he formed his first settlement, which
he denominated Brattahlis. In the summer of the same year he explored
parts of the more Western district, and gave names to many of the places
which he visited[3]. He passed the following winter in the island of
Ericscun; and in the succeeding summer he passed over to the main land,
and proceeded along the Northern coast till he reached an immense rock,
which he called Sneefiell, or the Rock of Snow. At this point he gave
the name of Ravensfiord to another bay, on account of the multitudes of
that ill-omened bird with which this spot abounds. Other parts of the
coast derived their appellations from the names of the different
adventurers who accompanied Eric in this expedition, as, Hergulfsness,
Ketillsfiord, Solvadal, Einarsfiord, &c[4].
In the following summer Eric, having conciliated the forgiveness, or
purchased the forbearance, of his enemies in Iceland, returned to that
country to procure an additional supply of inhabitants for his new
settlement. In order to render his proposals more attractive, he named
the country for which he was endeavouring to provide colonists,
Greenland, as if, compared with the rugged sterility of their native
Iceland, it was a region of verdure and delight. He described it as
abounding in cattle, and as rich in every species of game and fish. And
as such delusive representations, when assisted by the vivid eloquence
of enthusiasm, or the unhesitating assurance of effrontery, seldom fail
of their effect, Eric returned to his recent acquisition with numerous
ships, and a large body of settlers, from Iceland.
In less than twenty years after Eric the Red had begun to colonize
Greenland, his son Leiff, who had made a voyage into Norway, renounced
his Pagan errors, and received the baptismal rite. His conversion was
owing to the example and the admonitions of King Olave Tryggwine, or
Trugguerus[5], who had himself recently embraced the same doctrine, and
had been very successful in causing it to be diffused throughout his
dominions.
Leiff, having passed the winter at the court of the King of Norway,
returned to Greenland, in company with a priest and some other
missionaries, whom the King had commissioned to instruct Eric, and the
other settlers, in the faith which Leiff had embraced. On their voyage
to Greenland they met some mariners, who were floating upon a wreck in
the open sea. These they took on board, and conveyed to the new
settlement. Eric, at first, incensed with his son for having laid open
to strangers the route to the new-discovered country, turned a deaf ear
to his Christian admonitions. But the earnestness of the son, seconded
by the instruction of the missionaries, at last prevailed over the
insensibility of the father, who submitted to the rite of baptism, when
the other Greenlanders followed his example.
The Christian doctrine, which had been thus introduced, was so much
approved, and so generally received, that churches were established in
twelve different parts of East Greenland, and in four of the Western
district. Torfæus makes the year 1000 the era of the conversion of the
Greenland colonists to the Christian faith. This historian of ancient
Greenland has also preserved a list of its bishops, from the year 1021
to 1406, after which period no mention is made of any subsequent
episcopal appointments; and indeed the intercourse between Greenland and
the native region of the first settlers appears to have been previously
discontinued.
A Danish Chronicle, which M. Peyrere had consulted, refers the discovery
of Greenland to a much earlier date than that which has been given upon
the authority of Torfæus; and the earlier date of 770 is more likely to
be true, if, as M. Peyrere mentions, there is a bull of Pope Gregory IV,
in 835, relative to the propagation of the Christian faith in the North
of Europe, in which Iceland and Greenland are particularly mentioned.
The Danish Chronicle, to which Peyrere appeals, states, that the Kings
of Denmark, having been converted to Christianity during the empire of
Louis le Debonaire, Greenland had become an object of general attention
at this period.
The Danish Chronicle relates, that the first settlers in Greenland were
succeeded by a numerous posterity, who penetrated farther into the
country, and discovered, among the rocky heights and icy mountains, some
fertile spots, which were more auspicious to pasturage and cultivation.
They followed the division of Greenland which Eric had established, and
called the two settlements in the East and the West, Osterbygdt and
Westerbygdt.
In the Eastern district the Greenlanders erected a town, to which they
gave the name of Garde, where, according to Peyrere, who refers to the
Chronicle, the Norwegians established a sort of emporium for the deposit
and sale of their merchandize. The town of Garde became also the
residence of their bishops; and the church of St. Nicholas, the patron
of sailors, which was built in the same town, became the cathedral
church of the Greenlanders.
As the temporal jurisdiction in Greenland was subject to the kings of
Norway, so the spiritual power of the bishops was subordinate to that
of the archbishops of Drontheim; and the bishops of Greenland are said
frequently to have passed over to Norway, in order to consult their
ecclesiastical superior.
The Danish Chronicle, which was one of the early documents upon which
Peyrere founded his narrative, relates, that an insurrection broke out
in Greenland, in 1256, when the inhabitants refused any longer to submit
to the tributary exactions of Magnus, King of Norway. On this occasion,
Eric, King of Denmark, at the request of Magnus, who had married his
niece, equipped a naval armament in order to quell the rebels, and
restore the authority of his nephew. The Greenland insurgents no sooner
beheld the flag of the Danish fleet approaching their coast than they
were struck with a panic, and sued for peace.
This peace was ratified in the year 1261. Angrim Jonas, who records the
above-mentioned transaction, gives the names of the three principal
inhabitants of Greenland, who signed the treaty in Norway.
“Declarantes,” says Angrim, as quoted by Peyrere, “_suis factum
auspiciis ut Groenlandi perpetuum tributum Norveguo denuo jurassent_.”
Under their auspices the Greenlanders had been again brought to swear to
pay a perpetual tribute to the Norwegian.
In composing his account of ancient Greenland, Peyrere derived his
principal information from an Icelandic and a Danish Chronicle. The
first was the production of Snorro Sturleson, who was a native of
Iceland, and chief justiciary of that island in 1215. We are also
indebted to him for the compilation of the Edda.
In the Icelandic Chronicle above-mentioned, which appears to be a tissue
of different narratives, one of the chapters is entitled, a Description
of Greenland, which Peyrere has copied into his account as literally as
the difference of languages would admit. There is a similar description
in Torfæus (p. 42, &c.), with particular but unimportant variations.
Both the accounts are founded on the authority of Ivar Bert or Ivar
Bevius, who had, for several years, been steward or maitre d’hotel to
the Bishop of Garde, and was one of the persons who had been selected by
the governor to expel the Skrellings from the Western province of
Greenland or Westerbygdt, which they had invaded and depopulated.
Perhaps it will be best to insert this description of Eastern Greenland,
which was the most flourishing settlement of the Norwegians in this
country, as it is found in the narrative of Peyrere, and in the history
of Torfæus. If the skill, the philanthropy, and the enterprize of some
English navigators should ever obtain an access to this long lost
settlement, and the passage should again become as safe and practicable
as it was in ancient times, it will be an interesting research to
compare the present state of this district with the early accounts.
The most Eastern town in Greenland, says Ivar Bert, as exhibited in the
French version of Peyrere, is called Skagefiord[6], where is an
uninhabitable rock, and farther out in the sea is a shoal, which
prevents ships from entering the bay, except at high water, and it is at
this time, or during a violent storm, that numbers of whales and of
other fish enter the bay and are caught in abundance.
As you proceed a little higher towards the East, there is a port called
Funkabadir, from the name of a page or missionary of St. Olave, King of
Norway, who, with several other persons, suffered shipwreck at that
spot[7].
In a still higher latitude, and close to the mountains of ice, or, as
Torfæus says, “_propius Alpes_,” is an island, named Roansen or
Ranseya[8], which, in early times, appears to have been celebrated for
the quantity of animals, particularly of white bears, which it furnished
for the chace. Torfæus says, that these white bears were not to be
hunted without leave of the bishop. Beyond this spot the land and ocean
are said to present nothing but an accumulation of snow and ice.
To the West of Herjolfsness is Kindilfiord, or, as Peyrere spells it,
Hindelfiord, which is described as a cultivated and well peopled bay.
Upon the right, as you enter the bay, there is a church, called
Krokskirk or Korskirk, with a monastery consecrated to St. Olave and to
St. Augustin, the domain of which extends to Petersvic, where there are
numerous habitations. It also possesses the territory on the opposite
side of the bay.
Next to Kindilfiord is Rumpesinfiord, or Rumpeyarfiord[9], in an
interior recess of which there is a convent, dedicated to St. Olave,
which is proprietary of the whole district to the shore of the bay. This
bay contains many holms or little islands, the property of which the
monastery divides with the episcopal see. Numerous hot springs are found
in these islands, of which both Peyrere and Torfæus say, that they are
so hot as to be inaccessible during the winter, but that in summer the
temperature is so much reduced, that they become the resort of many
persons in a diversity of maladies.
Next to Rumpesinfiord, is Einarsfiord, and between them is a large
mansion, named _Fos_, fit for a king or “regi competens” in the language
of Torfæus[10]. Here is also a large church dedicated to St. Nicholas.
As you enter Lunesfiord, to the left, there is a little promontory
called Klining; and beyond it an arm of the sea, denominated Grantvich.
Farther in the interior is a house[11], named Daller, which belongs to
the bishop’s see. The cathedral is at the end of the bay. Here is a
large wood, in which cattle are left to browse.
The whole of Lunesfiord, with the large island which is called Linseya
by Torfæus, Reyatsen by Peyrere, is appropriated to the cathedral. This
part abounds with rein deer, which are hunted with the consent of the
bishop. The island of Reyatsen contains a species of stone or marble,
out of which they cut bowls, jugs, and different kinds of culinary
vessels, which possess the property of resisting the fire.
More to the West is an island named Langent, where there are eight
farms[12]. In the vicinity is Ericsfiord; and at the entrance of this
arm of the sea there is an island called Herrieven, or the Harbour of
the Lord, half of which belongs to the bishop’s see, and the other half
to the church, which is called Diurnes, which is seen on entering
Ericsfiord[13].
The country, says Peyrere, copying the Icelandic Chronicle, is unpeopled
and desert between the Osterbygdt and Westerbygdt; and upon the borders
of this desert there is a church, called Strosnes, which was formerly
the metropolitan see, and the residence of the bishops of Greenland. The
Westerbygdt is represented as occupied by the Skrellings[14]. This part
of the country is described as possessing horses, oxen, sheep, goats,
and other animals, but no human beings, either Christian or Pagan.
Such is the account which is given of the ancient state of Greenland by
Ivar Bert, the author of the Chronicle, which is mentioned above, and in
which, if there be some inaccurate representation, there is probably
more truth.
Peyrere remarks, that the Icelandic Chronicle is incorrect in describing
the church of Strosnes as the episcopal see, since that honour always
belonged to the town of Garde. The Danish Chronicle, whilst regretting
the interruption of the communication with Greenland, assures us, that,
if the episcopal residence of Garde[15] were still standing and
accessible, we should find a great number of documents for a complete
and authentic history of Greenland.
The Iceland Chronicle, according to Peyrere, gives a varying and
inconsistent account of the fertility of Greenland. In one part it says,
that the country furnishes the best corn which is to be found in any
part of the world; and that the oaks are of such vast bulk, and such
stately growth, that they produce acorns as large as apples. But in
another passage the same Chronicle affirms, that no seed of any kind,
which is sown in Greenland, will grow on account of the cold; and that
the inhabitants are unacquainted with the use of bread. The latter part
of this account harmonizes with that of the Danish Chronicle, which
affirms, that when the country was first discovered by Eric the Red,
the sterility of the soil obliged him to subsist entirely upon fish.
But in the same Danish Chronicle, which has just been mentioned, we find
it asserted, that, after the death of Eric, his successors, who
penetrated farther into the country, discovered some fertile spots
between the mountains, and fit either for pasture or tillage. The
Icelandic Chronicle contradicts itself when it says, that nothing will
grow in Greenland owing to the intensity of the cold. Peyrere also
remarks, that that part of Greenland, which was peopled by the
Norwegians, is in the same latitude as Upland, which is the most fertile
province in Sweden, and produces fine crops of grain. And the Icelandic
Chronicle itself says, in another place, that the cold in Greenland is
not so great as in Norway; and very good corn is grown in that country.
Greenland, says Peyrere, like other countries, which are composed of
plains and mountains, exhibits great diversities of soil, and though the
close approximation to the farthest North, in many situations, destroys
the process of vegetation, yet there appear to be localities, which are
by no means destitute of fertility. There are pastures possessing
excellent herbage; and amongst the animals, which contribute to the
subsistence of man, or to other uses, we find[16] sheep, oxen, horses,
rein deer, stags, and hares; and of the more savage animals, we find
wolves, foxes, and an abundance of white and black bears. The Icelandic
Chronicle mentions beavers and martens.
Peyrere adds[17], that grey and white falcons abound more here than in
any other part of the world. The superior excellence of these birds
caused them to be formerly sent to the kings of Denmark, who made
presents of them to the kings and princes in the neighbouring countries,
when falconry constituted one of the amusements of the great.
The above-mentioned author, who wrote in the middle of the seventeenth
century[18], says, that in Greenland nature produces a singular
phenomenon, which is described as a sort of miracle in the Icelandic
Chronicle. This phenomenon is no other than what is commonly called the
_Northern Lights_. These lights are mentioned as appearing more
particularly about the time of the new moon; and illuminating the whole
country, as much as if the moon were at the full. “The light is more
bright,” says Peyrere, “in proportion as the night is more dark.”
The Danish Chronicle, which is quoted by Peyrere, relates, that in the
year 1271 a violent hurricane from the North East drove a vast
accumulation of ice upon the coast of Iceland, which was covered with so
many bears and so much wood that it led to the supposition, that the
territory of Greenland was extended more to the North East than had been
hitherto imagined. This circumstance tempted some Northern sailors to
attempt the discovery, but they found nothing but ice. The kings of
Norway and Denmark had long before this fitted out ships for the same
purpose, but without any more success than the Icelanders had
experienced. The principal incitement to these voyages was a received
opinion, or traditionary report, that this country contained numerous
veins of gold, of silver, and precious stones.
The Danish Chronicle pretends, that some adventurous merchants formerly
amassed a large treasure by these expeditions. But regions of silver and
gold have always been amongst the favourite illusions of mankind; and
the imagination has revelled in visionary mines of the precious metals,
not only in the South but in the North; and both at the Equator and the
Pole.
In the time of St. Olave, King of Norway, some sailors from Friesland,
incited by the thirst of gold, are said to have undertaken a voyage to
the North Eastern extremity of Greenland; but, instead of returning home
with mountains of wealth, they were happy to escape the fury of the
winds on this rocky coast, in any miserable asylum which they could
find.
The Danish Chronicle, which is a mixture of truth and fable, adds, that
the Frieslanders, having made a landing upon the coast, discovered some
wretched cabins just rising above the earth, around which lay heaps of
gold and silver ore. Each of the sailors helped himself to as much as
he could carry away. But, when they were retreating to the shore, in
order to re-embark with their treasure, they saw some human forms, as
ugly as devils, issuing out of their earthen huts, armed with bows and
arrows, and accompanied with dogs of vast size. Before all the sailors
could reach the shore some of them were seized by these frightful
archers, who tore them limb from limb within sight of their companions.
The Danish Chronicle adds, that this region is so rich that it is
peopled only by devils.
Peyrere tells us, that one of the chapters in the Icelandic Chronicle
describes the ancient route between Norway and Greenland, before the
navigation was rendered impracticable by the descent of accumulated
mountains of ice from a more remote point of the North. But what is
mentioned concerning this route contains nothing very definite or
satisfactory.
The above-mentioned Icelandic Chronicle has another chapter on the
affairs of Greenland, transcribed from an old book entitled _Speculum
Regale_. This chapter describes some marine monsters of enormous
dimensions, which were formerly seen upon the coast of Greenland. The
Norwegians called the first of these prodigies Haffstramb; and speak of
it as showing itself breast high above the waves. It resembled the human
form in the neck, head, visage, nose, and mouth, except that the head
was more than usually elevated, and terminating in a point. It had wide
shoulders, at the end of which were two stumps of arms, without any
hands. The body tapered downwards, but it was never visible below the
middle. It had a frozen look. The emersion of this phantasm above the
waves was the signal of a hurricane.
The second monster received the appellation of Marguguer. It resembled
the female form as far as the middle. It had large breasts and
dishevelled hair; its stumps of arms were terminated by large hands, the
fingers of which were united by a web like the toes of a goose. It has
been seen holding fish in its hands, and putting them into its mouth.
Its appearance always presaged some violent storm. If it turned its eye
to the sailors, when it plunged into the water, it was a sign, that
they would not suffer shipwreck; but, if it turned its back, it was a
sure omen, that they would perish in the deep.
The third phenomenon received the name of Hafgierdinguer, which was not
properly a monster, but consisted of three large bodies or mountains of
water, which the tempest impelled into that form; and when,
unfortunately, any ships happened to become engaged in the triangular
surface, which these three mountains formed, there was but little chance
of their escape. This marine monster appears to have been engendered by
strong currents conflicting with opposing winds, which suddenly arise
and swallow up the vessels which happen to be within the shock of these
furious elements.
The Danish History relates, that in the year 1348, a great pestilence,
which was called the _black plague_, depopulated a great part of the
North. It carried off most of the sailors and merchants of Norway and
Denmark who were engaged in the trade between Greenland and those
kingdoms. About this period the navigation to Greenland became less
frequent, and the traffic began to be discontinued. But the learned
Wormius assured Peyrere, that he had read in a Danish manuscript, that
down to the year 1484 there was a company of more than forty sailors, at
Bergen, in Norway, who went every year to Greenland and brought back
some valuable products. Some German merchants had come to Bergen for the
purpose of purchasing these products, which the Greenlandmen were not
willing to dispose of; and it is added, that the Germans, resenting this
disappointment, invited the Greenland traders to a supper, at which they
put them treacherously to death. But, as Peyrere remarks, this account
has not much appearance of truth; nor is it probable, that the
navigation between Greenland and Norway was, at this period, so open as
the above details would induce us to suppose. Those details are,
besides, refuted by the following facts.
The revenue accruing from the province of Greenland was, in ancient
times, appropriated to the domestic expenses of the Norwegian king; and
no one could go to Greenland without the royal permission, upon pain of
death. In the year 1389, Henry, Bishop of Garde, in Greenland, embarked
for Denmark, and was present at the meeting of the States of that
kingdom, which were held at Funen in the reign of Queen Margaret, who
united the kingdoms of Denmark and of Norway under the same crown. At
this time some Norwegian merchants, who had gone to Greenland without
leave, were accused of having purloined the revenue which was reserved
for the expenditure of the queen. The queen showed no lenity towards
these merchants, and would have proceeded to take away their lives, if
they had not made oath upon the Holy Evangelists that their voyage to
Greenland was unpremeditated, and that they were forced to that
destination by the violence of a sudden storm. They alleged that they
had brought back only commodities which they had purchased, and that
they had not in the least interfered with the revenue belonging to the
queen. They were accordingly set at liberty; but the danger which they
had escaped, and the more rigorous prohibitions which were issued,
prevented any other individuals from that time from attempting to carry
on any traffic with the interdicted coast.
Some time after this the queen herself dispatched some vessels to
Greenland; but of which no tidings were ever received; and they must
consequently have perished. This disastrous expedition contributed to
put an end to the intercourse with Greenland; and the queen having her
attention occupied by her hostilities with Sweden, lost sight of this
remote colony, or left it to its fate.
The Danish Chronicle relates, that in the year 1406, Eskild, Archbishop
of Drontheim, wishing to exercise the same ecclesiastical authority over
Greenland, which his predecessors had done, sent a prelate named Andrew,
in order to succeed Henry, in the see of Garde, if he were dead, or to
convey some intelligence concerning him if he were living. Nothing more
was ever heard of Bishop Andrew, after his embarkation for Greenland;
nor were any farther tidings ever received of Henry, Bishop of Garde.
After this, the intercourse between Norway or Denmark and Greenland,
suffered an interruption from that period to the present; nor is there
much probability that it will ever be renewed.
Queen Margaret was succeeded, upon the throne of Denmark, by Erick, of
Pomerania, who gave himself little trouble about a settlement so remote
as that of Greenland. His successor, Christopher of Bavaria, was
employed during his whole reign in making war upon the Pomeranians.
The house of Oldenburg began its reign in Denmark in the year 1448.
Christian, who was the first sovereign of that race, and of that name,
neglected his dominions in the North in order to turn his attention to
the South. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he obtained from the Pope
a grant of the country of Ditmarsh, and permission to establish an
academy at Copenhagen.
Christian I was succeeded by Christian II, who, at the period of his
coronation, bound himself by a solemn promise to make every possible
exertion to restore the intercourse between Denmark and Greenland, and
to recover that settlement. But this monarch, instead of recovering what
his predecessors had lost, himself lost part of what they had possessed.
His tyrannical barbarities caused him to be expelled from Sweden, which
Queen Margaret had united with the Danish and Norwegian crown. From
Sweden Christian II retired into Denmark; but the same conduct which had
occasioned his expulsion by the Swedes, soon led to his deposition by
the Danes. It is on this account that he is represented with a shivered
sceptre amongst the Danish kings.
Eric Valkandor, who had been chancellor to Christian II, and was a
Danish gentleman of great and generous sentiments, had been made
Archbishop of Drontheim. After the disgrace of his master, he retired to
his archiepiscopal see, where he exerted himself with great zeal and
activity in order to renew the communication with Greenland, and to
discover the fate of that ancient settlement. This learned prelate made
it his business to read all the books in which it was mentioned, to
examine all the merchants and mariners who had any knowledge of it; and
he also caused a chart to be formed of the route which was supposed to
have been observed. He was on the point of putting his projects in
execution, when, being suspected of favouring the cause of the deposed
monarch, he was deprived of his archbishoprick, and banished from the
Norwegian territory. The benevolent scheme, which he had formed, was
thus disconcerted; and the hopes, which had been excited, vanished in
disappointment. The good Archbishop Valcandor retired to Rome, where he
ended his days.
Frederick I was succeeded by Christian III, who had an expedition fitted
out for the discovery of the lost settlement in Greenland; but this
proved as abortive as similar attempts had previously been. This monarch
now repealed the ordinances which his predecessors had established, by
which all communication with Greenland had been strictly prohibited,
without a special permission from the crown. The intercourse was now
rendered free, without any limitations or restraints. But this act of
royal grace came too late to be of any use; for the Norwegians at this
period had degenerated from the enterprizing valour of their ancestors;
and they were, at the same time, so impoverished that they did not
possess the means of equipping any vessels for such a difficult and
hazardous undertaking.
Frederick II entertained the same project as his father, Christian III,
and he dispatched _Magnus Heigningsen_ to attempt the discovery of
Greenland. This Magnus Heigningsen, if the relation be not fabulous,
actually discovered the long lost land, but was prevented by the
operation of some mysterious cause from reaching the shore. His ship,
without any visible cause, was stopped in its course, though in the
midst of deep water and a fresh breeze, without any obstruction from the
ice. As this Magnus Heigningsen could not advance any farther he was
happy to be able to retreat; and he accordingly sailed back to Denmark.
When he got back to that country he published an account of what had
happened to his ship; and pretended that its farther progress had been
stopped by a great loadstone at the bottom of the sea.
The Danish Chronicle, of which Peyrere has made such liberal use, gives
the following account of the expedition of Sir Martin Frobisher to
Greenland in 1576.
Frobisher set sail from England in the year just mentioned, and
discovered the coast of New Greenland, but did not make any landing till
he returned with another expedition in the following spring. The
inhabitants of that part of the coast where he disembarked, abandoned
their dwellings, and fled in different directions at the approach of the
English. The alarm of some of these natives appears to have been so
great that they clambered up to the tops of some rocky precipices, from
which they threw themselves into the sea.
The English, who found it impossible to allay the suspicions, or
conciliate the confidence of these savages, took possession of the huts
which they had deserted. They were, in fact, tents formed of sealskins,
stretched upon four poles, and sewed together with sinews instead of
thread. All these tents had two entrances, one of which fronted the
West, and the other the South; but they were closed against the winds
from the East and the North, by which they were liable to be the most
incommoded.
The English discovered in these cabins only an ancient matron, who
appeared a picture of hideous deformity, and a young woman, who was in
the family way, and had a little child holding her hand. These two last
they carried off, regardless of the opposition of the old beldam, who
set up a frightful howl. Departing from this point, they steered along
the Eastern coast, where they beheld a marine monster as large as an
ox, with a horn projecting from the snout of more than two yards in
length, which they took for the unicorn. Proceeding in a North-east
direction, they landed on another part of the coast of Greenland, which
they discovered to be subject to earthquakes, that threw great rocks
down into the plain. Here they found some gravel abounding, as they
imagined, with particles of gold, of which they carried off a
considerable quantity.
They spared no pains to conciliate the natives of this part of the
coast, who themselves made a show of a desire to maintain an amicable
correspondence. But these demonstrations of friendship appear to have
been designed only to put the English off their guard; for, when
Frobisher had landed, he was suddenly attacked by a body of savages, who
had concealed themselves behind a bank for that purpose. He retreated to
the shore and eluded their machinations. The savages, however, still
imagined that the strangers might be caught in the snare; and in order
to entrap them, they scattered pieces of raw flesh along the shore, as
they would have done to allure dogs. Finding this attempt fail, they had
recourse to another stratagem. They carried a lame man, or at least one
who feigned to be lame, down to the sea-side; and, having left him
there, they went away and kept themselves entirely out of sight. They
supposed that the English would make an attempt to carry off this lame
man in order to serve them as an interpreter, or to procure some
intelligence by his means. But Frobisher, who suspected some deception,
ordered a shot to be fired over his head, when he instantly sprung up
upon his legs and ran away with precipitate velocity.
The savages now appeared in great numbers, and assailed the English with
a shower of arrows and stones; but they were soon repulsed by a
discharge of great and small guns.
The native Greenlanders are represented as perfidious and cruel, neither
to be softened by caresses nor moved by benefits. This, however, is the
character of very imperfect knowledge and limited observation. They are
described as plump in their appearance, active in their limbs, and with
an aspect of olive hue. Some of them are reported to be as black as
negroes. Their clothes are made out of the skin of the seal, and sewed
with sinews. The women wear their hair loose, but throw it back behind
their ears in order to show the face, which they paint blue and yellow.
They wear no petticoats, but short trousers made of fish-skin, drawn one
over the other; in the pockets of which they carry their knives, little
mirrors, and the working materials, which they procure from foreigners
or obtain from the wrecks which may happen upon their coasts. The shirts
or chemises of both sexes are made from the intestines of fish, and
sewed with fine sinews. They wear their clothes loose, and gird them
with a belt made of fish-skin. They are disgustingly dirty, and covered
with vermin. Their criterion of wealth is the number of bows and
arrows, of slings, boats, and oars, which an individual may possess.
Their bows are small, their arrows thin and armed at the end with a
sharp point of bone or horn. They are expert in the use of the bow and
the sling; and in killing fish with the spear. Their little boats are
covered with sealskin, and can hold only one man. But they have larger
boats formed of wood, covered with the skin of the whale, and which will
carry twenty men. Their sails are made of the same materials as their
shirts; or of the intestines of fish fastened together by fine sinews.
And though they make use of no iron in the construction of their canoes
or boats, they are put together with so much skill, and so well
compacted, that in them they venture out into the wide ocean with
perfect security. They have no venomous reptiles or insects; but are
sometimes infested with swarms of gnats. They make use of very large
dogs for the purpose of drawing their sledges. All the fresh water which
they possess they procure from the melted snow.
Such are the principal particulars which are detailed in the Danish
account of Frobisher’s voyage. We will now proceed to relate some
attempts of the Danes to renew their intercourse with Greenland,
subsequent to those which have been previously mentioned, and which
proved abortive.
Christian IV resolved, if possible, to signalize his reign by the
discovery of that lost settlement, which his father and grandfather had
sought in vain. For this purpose he sent for an experienced mariner from
England, who had the reputation of being well acquainted with the
Northern ocean, and with the route to Greenland. Having procured this
skilful auxiliary, whose name was John Knight, the Danish monarch
equipped three stout ships, which he put under the orders of Godske
Lindenau, who sailed from the Sound on the breaking up of the ice in the
year 1605. The Englishman, who was appointed to the command of one ship,
having reached the latitude he wished, steered his course to the South
West in order to avoid the ice and to make the land with less risk. The
Danish admiral Lindenau, thinking that the English captain was
deviating from the right track by keeping to the South West, continued
his route to the North East, and arrived on the coast of Greenland
without either of the other ships. Admiral Lindenau had no sooner come
to an anchor, than a number of savages put off their boats from the
shore to visit his ship. The admiral gave them a very hospitable
reception, and made them a present of some wine, which, however, was not
agreeable to their taste; and they manifested signs of their dislike.
They saw some whale oil, which they expressed a desire to have; and it
was accordingly poured out for them in large mugs, which they drank with
avidity and delight.
These savages possessed a number of skins of the fox, the bear, and the
seal, with many horns in pieces, ends, and trunks, which they exchanged
with the Danes for knives, needles, looking-glasses, and trifles of
different kinds. They showed no desire for gold or silver money, the
offer of which provoked their ridicule or excited their contempt. They
manifested on the other hand a passionate eagerness for every article of
steel manufacture, which they were willing to purchase by the sacrifice
of their greatest valuables, as of their bows and arrows, their boats
and oars. When they had nothing more to offer in exchange, they stripped
themselves to the skin, and offered to make away with all the clothes
they possessed.
Godske Lindenau remained three days in the road, but it is not said that
he once went ashore. He was probably afraid of trusting the lives of
the small number of persons he had with him in the midst of such a mass
of savages, by whom they were so greatly outnumbered.
He took his departure upon the fourth day; but before he set sail he
secured two of the natives on board his ship in order to carry them to
Denmark; but they made so many violent efforts to escape, that it became
necessary to secure them by cords in order to prevent them from plunging
into the sea. When the savages upon the beach saw two of their
countrymen made prisoners and fastened to the deck of the Danish vessel,
they discharged a shower of stones and arrows upon the Danes, who were
obliged to terrify them to a distance by firing off one of their great
guns. The admiral returned to Denmark by himself, without knowing what
had befallen the other two ships, with which he had originally embarked.
The Danish account of this expedition says, that the English captain
with the two Danish vessels, which had separated from that under
Lindenau, reached the coast at the Southern extremity of Greenland, or
Cape Farewell. It is also certain that the English commander entered
Davis’s Straits, and coasted along the shore to the East. He discovered
a number of good harbours, a fine country, and verdant plains. The
savages in this part of Greenland carried on some traffic with him; as
those upon the other side had done with Lindenau; but they exhibited
more distrust; for they had no sooner received the Danish commodities in
exchange for their own than they took to their boats with as much
precipitation as if they were pursued by an enemy.
The Danes armed themselves for the purpose of making a landing in one of
the bays. The soil, where they went ashore, appeared to be a mixture of
sand and rock, like that of Norway. Some fumes exhaled from the earth
made them suppose that there were mines of sulphur in the neighbourhood;
and they found many pieces of silver ore, which yielded twenty-six
ounces of silver to the hundred weight of ore.
The English captain, who discovered many fine harbours or bays along
this coast, gave them Danish names, and before his departure made a
chart of what he had seen. He also directed four of the best formed
savages, whom the Danes could seize, to be conveyed on board his ship.
One of these four natives became so outrageous, that the Danes, not
being able to haul him along, knocked him on the head with the but end
of their muskets. This intimidated the three others, who followed
without farther resistance.
But the natives of the place, who had beheld one of their companions put
to death, and three made prisoners, united themselves in a body to
avenge the one and to rescue the others. They pursued the Danes to the
shore in order to execute these resolutions, and to prevent their
embarkation. The Danes, however, saved themselves and their boats by a
timely use of their fire-arms, which diffused great terror among the
enemy. They now made good their retreat to their ships, and returned to
Denmark with the three captured Greenlanders, whom they presented to the
king, and who were found to be much better made and more civilized than
those whom Godske Lindenau had imported. They also differed in manners,
language, and dress.
The Danish monarch, who was gratified by the result of this first
expedition, dispatched the same Admiral Lindenau to Greenland with five
stout vessels in the following year, 1606. He departed from the Sound
upon the 8th of May; having on board his ship the three savages whom the
English captain had conveyed away, in order to serve as interpreters and
guides. One of these savages fell sick and died during the voyage; and
his body was thrown overboard. Godske Lindenau took the same route
which the English captain had observed, and passed by Cape Farewell into
Davis’s Straits. One of his five ships was lost sight of in a fog; but
the four others arrived in Greenland. The natives showed themselves in
great numbers upon the coast, but manifested no inclination to trade, or
to trust the Danes, who, in their turn, showed the same want of
confidence. This obliged the latter to proceed higher up the coast,
where they discovered a finer harbour than that which they had left; but
they found the natives as suspicious and intractable as at the former
station, and indicating a determination to resort to force if the Danes
attempted to land.