234 GREENLAND goose, and duck. There are traditions of the uk, but it has not been seen by late ex- plorers. The eider duck visits the most north- ern shores in the spring and raises its young. Other birds often seen are the raven, ptarmi- gan, grouse, tern, sandpiper, plover, dovekie, and snow bunting. In the more northerly parts the polar bear and the musk ox are found, but they are seldom seen in the south, excepting in severe winters, when it is difficult to paw the snow from the scant vegetation. In summer the bears live upon seals, which they catch on the ice. The reindeer, once abundant, are becoming scarce on the coast, the natives having hunted them with great persistency since the introduction of rifles ; it is said that at least 10,000 have been killed in the past 30 years in the district of Omenak. Two species of fox, the white and the blue, abound. The skins of the blue fox are much sought after, the fur commanding a high price. The domestic animals are sheep, a few cattle, and dogs, the last of which constitute the chief wealth of the Greenland ers, who train them to draw sledges. They relapse sometimes into the savage state and roam in packs, hunting the reindeer. With the exception of about 300 Europeans, mostly Danes, the population is composed entirely of Esquimaux, who live by hunting and fishing. A few live on the E. coast, below lat. 65, but all the villages and settlements are on the W. coast, upon the low lands along the fiords. After years of dis- couraging effort on the part of the missionaries, all the natives have been converted to Chris- tianity. They have given up their nomadic habits and enjoy the benefits of civilization, while they are afflicted with fewer of its vices than are the Indians who have come in contact with the white man elsewhere. Liquor is pro- hibited in all the settlements, and it is only once a year, on the king's birthday, that every man in Greenland is permitted to receive from the government storehouses a glass of schnapps, to drink the health of his sovereign. For administrative purposes the country is di- vided into two inspectorates, North and South Greenland. North Greenland is subdivided into seven districts, Upernavik, Omenak, Riten- benk, Jacobshavn, Godhavn, Christianshaab, and Egedesminde, the last being the most southerly. Godhavn (Good Harbor), on the S. side of the island of Disco, in lat. 69, has a population of 250, and is the residence of the inspector. The districts of South Greenland are, beginning with the most northerly, Hol- steinborg, Sukkertoppen, Godthaab and Nye Herrnhut, Lichtenfels, Frederikshaab, and Ju- haneshaab. Godthaab, in lat. 64, the resi- dence of the inspector, has a population of 740. Each of these 13 districts has a director (colonibestyrere), who is assisted in his admin- istrative duties by a parliament chosen from the principal men. Julianeshaab, the chief district, comprises all the coast from Cape Farewell to lat. 01. The town is in lat. 60 44', on the fiord of Igalliko, a large inlet from the sea, from 2 to 5 m. in width, which is so shut in by the mountains that no glacier finds its way into it. Along its banks are still to be seen the ruins of the ancient Norse settlements. The town has a population, according to some authorities, of 2,600, but according to Dr. Hayes of only 800. The settlements of Nye Herrnhut, Lichtenfels, Frederiksdal, and Fre- derikshaab belong to the Moravian missions. The rest of the coast is in charge of the Lu- theran missions, which are under the direct pa- tronage of the government, and are adminis- tered by a board appointed by the Danish crown. The Moravians depend for their supplies upon private negotiations and the courtesy of Danish vessels. The whole trade of Greenland is a mo- nopoly of the crown of Denmark, and is carried on under the direction of the Greenland trading company (Kongelige GronlandsTce Handel}, an association founded in 1781, and controlled by a directory in Copenhagen. Each settlement is presided over by an agent, either a Dane or a half-breed, who keeps the company's ac- counts, disposes of stores, and gathers pro- ducts. The stores are brought annually from Denmark to Julianeshaab, whence they are dis- tributed to the various outposts. The chief ex- ports from Greenland are stock fish (cod dried without salt), the skins of the seal, fox, and rein- deer, whale and seal oil, blubber, eider down, and cryolite. The imports are grain, coffee, sugar, tobacco, brandy, and firewood. The ex- penses are so great that the trading company pays but a small sum annually into the royal treasury. Greenland was discovered by the Northman Gunnbjorn, who saw its E. coast in 876 or 877 ; but he was wrecked on the rocks afterward called by his name, and did not land upon it. In 983 Eric the Red (so called from the color of his hair), son of a jarl of Jadar in Norway, set sail from Bredifiord, Iceland, in search of the land seen by Gunnbjorn, of which a tradition still lingered in Iceland. He doubled Cape Farewell and sailed up the W. coast to the present site of Julianeshaab, where he saw large herds of reindeer browsing on the meadow lands. The country pleased him, and he named it Greenland, and the inlet Ericsfiord. In 985 Eric returned to Iceland, and again set sail with 25 ships loaded with emigrants and the means of founding a colony. He reached Ericsfiord with 14 of these ships, the rest having been lost by the way or forced to put back, and built a settlement far up the fiord. The town grew and prospered, and in time the coast was explored and new planta- tions were founded. How far N. the Norse- men penetrated is not known, but an inscribed pillar, erected in 1135 on one of the Woman's islands on the E. shore of Baffin bay, and found there in 1824 by Sir Edward Parry, proves that one of their expeditions went as far as Upernavik, lat. 72 50', and "cleared ground " there. As no trees grow in that re- gion now, it is probable that the land was then
