CHAPTER IV.
UPERNAVIK.—HOSPITALITY OF THE INHABITANTS.—DEATH AND BURIAL OF GIBSON CARUTHERS.—A LUNCH ON BOARD.—ADIEU.
UPERNAVIK.—HOSPITALITY OF THE INHABITANTS.—DEATH AND BURIAL OF GIBSON CARUTHERS.—A LUNCH ON BOARD.—ADIEU.
We put to sea early in the morning of the 12th, and in the evening of the same day were at Upernavik. The entrance to the harbor is somewhat unsafe, owing to a reef which lies outside the anchorage; but we were fortunate in obtaining a native pilot at Pröven, and ran in without accident. This pilot was a character in his way. It seems that he had been converted from his heathen ways, and rejoiced in the benefits of baptism and the name of Adam. Dressed in a well-worn suit of seal-skins, Adam had about him little of the sailor trigness; yet, though not a Palinurus, no pilot in all the world had ever a higher appreciation of his personal importance. His appearance, however, was not calculated to inspire any great degree of confidence in his skill; and the sailing-master plied him so incessantly with questions that he at length grew impatient; and, concentrating his vanity and knowledge into one short sentence, which signified plainly, "I am master of the situation," he informed that officer that there was "plenty water all de times, no rocks altogeder," and retired with every mark of offended dignity. He was correct in his information, if not in his English.
We found the Danish brigThialfelying snuglymoored in the harbor, and we anchored close beside her. This was the first vessel we had seen since leaving the fishing-smacks off Cape Cod. She was taking in oil and skins for Copenhagen, and her commander, Mr. Bordolf, informed me that he expected to sail in a few days,—a chance, at last, for letters to the anxious ones at home.
The people of the Colony were already much excited over the arrival of the "Danske skip," and two vessels in the port at once was a sight which they had not for a long time witnessed. The moss-covered hill which slopes from the town to the beach was covered with a motley-group of men, women, and children, presenting quite a picturesque appearance as we approached the anchorage.
Mr. Hansen received me with true Scandinavian heartiness; and, escorting me to the government-house, introduced me to the retiring Chief Trader, Dr. Rudolph, a very gentlemanly representative of the Danish Army, who was about returning home in theThialfe. Over a jug of home-brewed beer and a Dutch pipe, we were soon discussing the prospect of obtaining dogs and the state of the ice to the northward.
UPERNAVIK
THE PARSONAGE
Upernavik differs but little in its general appearance from Pröven. There are a few more huts and a few more inhabitants; and, from being the residence of the Chief Trader for the "Upernavik district," which includes Pröven and its dependencies, it has attached to it something more of importance. Perhaps this is, in a measure, due to a quaint little church and a parsonage. To the parsonage I quickly found my way, for I fancied that from behind the neat muslin curtains of its odd little windows I detected afemale face. I tapped at the door, and was ushered into a cosy little apartment, (the fastidious neatness of which left no doubt as to the sex of its occupants,) by the oddest specimen of woman-kind that ever answered bell. She was a full-blown Esquimau, with coppery complexion and black hair, which was twisted into a knot on the top of her head. She wore a jacket which extended to her waist, seal-skin pantaloons, and boots reaching above the knees, dyed scarlet and embroidered in a manner that would astonish the girls of Dresden. The room was redolent of the fragrant rose and mignonette and heliotrope, which nestled in the sunlight under the snow-white curtains. A canary chirped on its perch above the door, a cat was purring on the hearth-rug, and an unmistakable gentleman put out a soft white hand to give me welcome. It was the Rev. Mr. Anton, missionary of the place. Mrs. Anton soon emerged from a snug little chamber adjoining. Her sister came in immediately afterward, and we were soon grouped about a home-like table; a genuine bottle of Lafitte, choice coffee, Danish fare, and Danish heartiness, quickly made us forget the hardships of our cramped life in the little tempest-tossed schooner.
My visit to Mr. Anton had, however, an association of much sadness. A valued member of my party, Mr. Gibson Caruthers, had died during the previous night, and I called to ask the missionary to officiate at the funeral service. His consent was promptly given, and the hour of burial was fixed for the following day.
The burial of a companion, at any time painful, was doubly so to us, isolated as we were from the world. The deceased had endeared himself to all on board byhis excellent qualities of head and heart; and the suddenness of his death made the impression upon his late associates all the more keenly felt. He had retired the night before in perfect health, and was found dead in his berth next morning. To the expedition he was a serious loss. Besides Mr. Sonntag, he was the only member of my party who had been in the Arctic seas, and I had counted much upon his knowledge and intelligence. He had served under De Haven in the First Grinnell Expedition of 1850-51, and had brought home an excellent record for fortitude and daring.
AN ARCTIC SEPULCHRE.
The burial-ground at Upernavik is a sad place for human sepulchre. It lies on the hill-side above the town, and is dreary and desolate past description. It is made up of a series of rocky steps, on which lie, covered over with piles of stones, (for there is no earth,) a few rude coffins,—mournful resting-place for those who sleep here their last sleep in the everlasting winter. The body of poor Caruthers lies upon a ledge overlooking the sea, which he loved so well, and the beating surf will sing for him an eternal requiem.
We were detained four days at Upernavik, collecting dogs and accumulating the elements of an Arctic wardrobe. This last consisted of reindeer, seal, and dog skins, a quantity of which had been obtained at Pröven, and placed in the hands of the native women, to be converted into suitable garments. The boots required the longest time to manufacture. They are made of tanned seal-skin, sewed with sinew, and are "crimped" and fitted to the foot in a very ingenious manner. When properly made they are perfectly water-proof. The boot worn by the half-civilized native women is really a pretty as well as serviceablepiece of cunning needlework. The tanned seal-skin, by alternate freezing and thawing, and exposure to the sun, becomes perfectly bleached, and in that condition is readily stained with any color which woman's caprice may suggest, or the Chief Trader may happen to have in his store-room. The women of Greenland are not exempt from the graceful vanities of other lands. They are fond of gay colors, and do not disdain admiration. Red boots, or white, trimmed with red, seemed to be most in vogue, though, indeed, there is no more an end to the variety than there is to the strangeness of the fancy which suggests it. It would be difficult to imagine a more ludicrous sight than was presented by the crowd of red and yellow and white and purple and blue legged women who crowded along the beach as we entered the harbor.
POPULATION OF UPERNAVIK.
The population of Upernavik numbers about two hundred souls, comprising about twenty Danes, and a larger number of half-breeds, the remainder being native Greenlanders, that is, Esquimaux. I shall have more to say of them hereafter, my purpose now being to carry the reader as rapidly as possible to the scene of our explorations. He may indeed have as much anxiety to get away from Upernavik as I had.
NEW RECRUITS.
Through the kindness of Mr. Hansen, I obtained here three native hunters, and also an interpreter. This latter had taken passage by theThialfefor Copenhagen, but he could not withstand the tempting offer which I made him, and he quickly transferred himself from the Danish brig to our crowded cabin. He was a hearty, strong man, had lived in Greenland for ten years; and, being more than usually intelligent, had picked up on board the English whale-ships a sufficient knowledge of the English languageto insure his being a very useful member of my party in the event of our falling in with Esquimaux, with whose language he was perfectly familiar. Besides, he was an excellent hunter and dog-driver; and, by joining me, I secured his team of dogs, the finest in all North Greenland. But unfortunately this involved another halt, for they were sixty miles up the coast, at Tessuissak, a small hunting station of which he was Trader at the time of obtaining his leave of absence to go home for the year. I also shipped two Danish sailors, thus increasing my party to twenty souls. As the new recruits will figure frequently in these pages, I give their names:—
I owe much to the kindly disposition of the inhabitants of Upernavik. Their simple though cordial hospitality was a refreshing incident of our cruise; and the constant desire to supply my wants, and the pains which they took to furnish what I so much needed, is gratefully remembered. If those in authority had allowed me to shift for myself I should have been badly off indeed. I mention it to their credit that they refused compensation of every kind; and it was not without great effort that I could prevail upon any of them to accept so much as a barrel of flour or a box of canned food. "You will want them more than we," was the uniform answer. The Chief Trader actually sent aboard a present I had made him in return for the fine team of dogs which I owed to his generosity.
A LUNCH ON BOARD.
It was in some measure to show my appreciation of the spirit which prompted these warm-hearted people that I resolved to signalize our departure with alunchto the representatives of King Frederick the Seventh, at this most northern outpost of Christian settlement. Accordingly I sent my secretary, Mr. Knorr, out with some formal-looking invitations, gotten up in all the dignity of Parisian paper and rose-scented wax. He came back in a few hours with three couples. Two of the ladies were from the parsonage; the other was the wife of the Chief Trader. Dr. Rudolph, Mr. Hansen, and the missionary, were their escorts. The master of theThialfewas already on board.
Meanwhile our old Swedish cook had gone half crazy, and the steward kept him company. To prepare a lunch for ladies in these high latitudes was not within their conception of the hard-fisted requirements of exploration dignity. They "couldnotunderstand it." The steward contrived, however, to stow away in the bunks the seal-skins which encumbered the cabin, and thus got rid of all our Greenland rubbish but the odor. But it was not until the clean white table-cloth, which he produced from some out-of-the-way locker, was covered with the smoking dishes which his ingenuity had contrived, that his face was lit up with any thing approaching the kindly. Being, however, in a general way a mild-mannered man, his ferocious looks did not materially affect the progress of the preparations; and the solemn face with which he predicted, in great confidence, to the cook that "such folly would bring us all to ruin, indeed it would," at length wore a ghastly smile, and finally exhibited decided manifestations of a forgiving disposition.Indeed, he was in the end very proud of his "spread."
A LUNCH ON BOARD.
In truth, the spread was a very creditable affair. The contents of our hermetically sealed cans furnished a welcome variety to these dwellers in the land of seals; the lakes of Greenland supplied some noble salmon, and my lockers contributed something from sunny France and golden Italy, and the materials for an excellent punch from Santa Cruz. At first we got on badly with the conversation, but by and by English, Danish, German, and bad Latin became mixed harmoniously together like the ingredients of the punch; healths were drunk,—to the King, to the President, to all good fortune, to ourselves, and speeches were made, in which were duly set forth the glorious memories of the children of Odin. The merriment was waxing warm. Some one, stimulated perhaps by a recent tribute of praise to the valiant Harold and the Russian Maiden, and the fights and loves of the vikings generally, had just proposed that best toast of the sailor, "sweethearts and wives," and obtained a fitting response, when the heavy thump of a pair of mammoth sea-boots was heard on the companion-ladder, and the master's mate broke in upon us like the ghost of Banquo.
"The officer of the deck directs me to report, sir, that the dogs are all aboard, sir, and that he is hove short on the anchor, as ordered, sir."
"How's the wind?"
"Light, and southerly, sir."
FAREWELL TO UPERNAVIK.
There was no help for it. The guests must be got away. The ladies' "things" were hunted up; the ladies themselves were hurried over the gangway into the boat; Dr. Rudolph took charge of our letters,promising to deliver them to the American consul at Copenhagen; "click, click," went the windlass; up went our white wings, and the last link which bound us to the world—the world of love and warm skies and green meadows—was fairly broken, when we caught from the hill-top the last glimpse of a gay ribbon and the last flutter of a white handkerchief.
Upernavik