A Description of Greenland

by Hans Egede

The Danes, not willing to hazard a landing in such inauspicious circumstances, sailed to a greater distance. As they proceeded along the coast, they met some of the natives in their canoes. They surprised six of these at different times, and took them on board along with their canoes and little equipments.

The Danes, having afterwards cast anchor in a third bay, one of the attendants of Godske Lindenau, who was a hardy and enterprising veteran, solicited the permission of his master to proceed alone to the shore, in order to reconnoitre the land, and, if possible, to establish some intercourse with the savages. But this unfortunate valet had no sooner set his foot upon the beach than he was seized, stabbed, and hacked in pieces by the natives; who, after this atrocity, retired out of the reach of the Danish guns.

These savages had knives and swords made of the horns or teeth of that fish which they call unicorn, and which they ground to an edge upon a stone; nor were they less sharp than if they had been made of iron or steel.

Godske Lindenau, not finding it practicable to establish any amicable communication with the people of this district, set sail for Denmark; but of the six Greenlanders whom he had recently forced on board, one was pierced with such regret at the thought of never more seeing his native home, that he threw himself into the ocean in a paroxysm of despair. Upon their return the Danes had the pleasure of rejoining the fifth ship, which had disappeared in a fog; but they had been only five days together when they were all separated by a storm; and a month elapsed before they could re-unite when the tempest had passed away. They arrived at Copenhagen upon the 5th of the following October, after having experienced many awful perils and hairbreadth escapes.

The King of Denmark, who deserves praise for his perseverance, now determined upon a third expedition to Greenland. He accordingly ordered two large ships to be fitted out, which he placed under the command of a Captain Karsten Richkardisen, a native of Holstein, whom he furnished with some sailors from Norway and Iceland that were acquainted with the navigation. These vessels sailed from the Sound on the 12th of May, but the Danish Chronicle has not stated in what year; nor was it known to Peyrere. On the 8th of June Richkardisen discovered the high points of the Greenland mountains; but he was prevented from landing by the rocks of ice which ran out far into the sea and rendered the coast inaccessible. He was therefore obliged to return without accomplishing the object of his voyage, as he despaired of being able to penetrate the icy barrier which blockaded the shore. No similar attempt has hitherto been successful; and the Eastern coast of Greenland, though for several centuries well known to, and habitually visited by, the Norwegians and Danes, is, at present, a terra incognita, notwithstanding the spirit of European adventure and the zeal of modern discovery.

The King of Denmark caused particular attention to be paid to the three savages who had survived the preceding, and the five who had been imported by the last expedition to Greenland. They were fed upon milk, butter, and cheese, as well as upon raw flesh and raw fish, to which they had been accustomed at home. They appeared to have an invincible repugnance to our baked bread and dressed meat; nor did they relish any kind of wine so much as the oil and grease of the whale. They often turned a wishful and desponding look to the North; and sighed so anxiously to return to the place of their nativity, that, whenever they were watched with less vigilance than usual, those who had an opportunity seized any boat that was at hand and put to sea, regardless of the dangers they had to encounter. A storm once overtook some of these intrepid adventurers at ten or twelve leagues from the Sound, and forced them back to the coast of Schonen, where they were made prisoners by the peasantry and conveyed back to Copenhagen. This caused them to be guarded with more rigour, and kept under greater restraint. But three of them fell sick and died of grief.

Five of these savages were alive and well when a Spanish Ambassador made his appearance in Denmark; and the Danish Monarch, in order to divert this stranger, caused these native Greenlanders to exhibit their manœuvres in their little canoes upon the sea. The Spanish Ambassador was quite delighted with the address which they displayed, and with the extraordinary celerity with which they glided over the waves. He made a present in money to each of the savages, which they expended in equipping themselves in the Danish fashion. They were accordingly seen booted and spurred, with large feathers in their hats; and in these habiliments they proposed to serve in the cavalry of the Danish King.

But these high spirits of the Greenlanders lasted only for a short time; for they soon relapsed into their usual melancholy. They became entirely absorbed with the idea of returning to their native country; and two of them having obtained possession of their little boats put out to sea. They were pursued, but only one of them was taken, and the other probably perished in the waves; for it cannot be supposed that he ever returned to the land of his fathers. With respect to one of the savages, it was remarked, that he shed tears whenever he beheld a child at the breast; from which it was supposed, that he had left a wife and children at home.

Of these surviving savages two pined away with regret. The two others lived ten or twelve years in Denmark after the decease of their companions. No pains were spared to reconcile them to their condition, but without success. One of them died of an illness, brought on by being employed in diving for the pearl muscle, during the depth of winter. His companion, who was inconsolable for his loss, again seized a boat and made an effort to escape from captivity. He had passed the Sound before he could be retaken, but he lived only a short time after this last attempt to recover his liberty.

Peyrere says, that an attempt was made to convert these savages to the Christian faith, but that they could never be brought to learn the Danish language; and he remarks, with much simplicity, that “la foi estant de l’oüye, il fut impossible de leur faire comprendre nos mysteres.” “Faith,” says he, “coming from hearing, it was impossible to make them comprehend our mysteries.” He adds, that those who narrowly watched their actions often saw them lift up their eyes to Heaven, and worship the Sun.