During winter, they live in houses, or rather in a kind of cavern, which they sink in the earth; and, during summer, they occupy tents, made circular with poles, and covered with skins. Their only beverage is water. The men are extremely indolent; and all the laborious occupations, except that of procuring food, are performed by the women. They sew with the sinews of deer; and much of their needlework is very neat. The Esquimaux cannot reckon, numerically, beyond six; and their compound numbers reach no further than 21: all beyond this are called a multitude.
The principal articles of export, obtained from the coast of Labrador, are cod-fish, salmon, oil, whalebone, and furs of various kinds.
NEWFOUNDLAND.
Near the south-eastern extremity of Labrador is the island of Newfoundland; which, at present, constitutes an important station, for the British cod-fisheries. It is of triangular form, and about three hundred miles in circuit; and, though it lies between the same parallels of latitude as the south of France, its climate is very severe. In winter the rivers are frozen to the thickness of several feet; and, during this season, the earth is covered with snow, and the cold is so intense that the power of vegetation is destroyed. The coasts abound in creeks, roads, and harbours; and the interior of the island is full of steep rocks, woody hills, and sandy valleys; and of plains, interspersed with rocks, lakes, and marshes. A very small portion of it is at present cultivated; for neither the soil nor the climate is favourable to productions necessary to the support of human life. St. John's, the chief town of the island, is a mean and ill-built place, with narrow and dirty streets. It is situated on the south-eastern part of the coast, and has a considerable harbour.
This island formerly belonged to the French; but, in 1713, it was ceded to the English, to whom it still belongs. Its chief importance is derived from its vicinity to an immense bank, beneath the surface of the ocean, which is frequented by myriads of cod-fish. On this bank there are annually employed more than two thousand fishing-vessels; and four hundred merchant-ships, in conveying the fish to different parts of the world. All the fish are caught by lines; and they are conveyed to the shores of Newfoundland, to be salted and dried, or otherwise prepared for exportation. The Newfoundland fishery usually commences about the middle of May, and continues till the end of September.
GREENLAND,
Is an extensive peninsula, or, as some geographers believe, an immense island, lying north of the 60th degree of latitude, and between the 48th and 70th degrees of west longitude. It is said to have been originally discovered, as early as the tenth century, by a party of exiled Icelanders, who gave to it the name of "Greenland," from its exhibiting a much greater appearance of verdure than Iceland. Cape Farewell, its southernmost point, is a small island divided from the shore by a narrow inlet.
The interior of the country is dreary and mountainous; and some of the mountains are so lofty, that they are visible to the distance of more than forty leagues. They are covered with perpetual snow; and ice and snow, like the glaciers of Switzerland, fill the elevated plains, and even many of the valleys. The lowlands, adjacent to the sea-coast, are clothed with verdure during the summer season. The coast is indented with many bays and creeks, which extend far into the land; but many parts of it are altogether inaccessible by shipping, on account of the enormous masses of floating ice, which abound in the extreme northern seas.
Christian Missionaries were settled in this country, by the Danes, many centuries ago; and they formed churches and monasteries in different parts, through an extent of country nearly two hundred miles in length. From authentic records it appears that Greenland was anciently divided into two districts, the westernmost of which contained four parishes and one hundred villages; and the other, twelve parishes, one hundred and twenty villages, the see of a bishop, and two monasteries. The present inhabitants of the western districts are, however, separated from those of the east by impassable deserts and mountains.
This country is subject to Denmark; and the parts of it that are chiefly visited by Danes and Norwegians, lie between the 64th and 68th degrees of north latitude; and, to this distance, the climate is said not to be very severe. At one time there was a Danish factory as far north as the 73d degree; but, beyond the 68th degree of latitude, the cold in winter is, in general, so intense, that even the rocks burst by the expansive power of the frost. Thunder and lightning seldom occur in Greenland; but the aurora borealis is frequently visible, particularly in the spring of the year; and is often so bright and vivid, as to afford sufficient light for a person to read by it.