Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/287

* GREENLAND. 231 GREENLAND. I also that the surl'aoe is covered with a thick flow of basalt, overlying Tertiary, and also some Cretaceous deposits. Fossil plants of the Tertiary epoch are found on Disco Island and the adjoin- ing mainland. Coal — lignite — is mined on Disco Island. Althougli Greenland does not appear to be rich in valuable minerals, it is the only coun- try yielding cryolite in commercial quantities, the mines being situated at Ivigtut on the south- west coast. Iron ore is found, and the largest known meteorites were brought by Peary from near Cape York to the American iNIuseum of Natural History in New York City. Graphite is also found, but not in quantity nor quality suitable for commercial purposes. Under the intluenee of the sun, or of the warm east wind. large tracts in the soutli coast lands and considerable areas in tlie north are clad in a mantle of mosses, grasses, shrubs, and flowering plants. !Most of the shrubs are trailing plants, and few trees grow to a height of over five or six feet. The flora, which includes about four hundred flowering plants and some hundreds of lichens, greatly resembles that of Scandinavia. Kumerous edible berries (Juniper, alder-berries, and others) form a small part of the food re- sources of the southern natives; and the white agents of the Danish Government have garden patches in which turnips, cabbage, lettuce, and very small potatoes are grown, mainly, however, under glass. The currents bring to the southerly coasts considerable driftwood, which is used by the natives in making harpoon-shafts, etc. The fauna resembles that of Iceland, Spitz- bergen, Lapland, and Xova Zembla. Among the mammals the musk-ox (found only to the north of the permanent ice cap) is alone of American origin, the white l)ear. Arctic fox and hare, ermine, and lemming being European. Peary killed wolves, foxes, and hares at the most northern point of his travels on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Flies, mosquitoes, beetles, butterflies, and molhisks abound evervAvhere along the coast, and in fact no part of the ice-free areas is devoid of animal life. Reindeer are much less numerous than fonnerly, because of excessive hunting. The little auk. eider-duck. and swan have also been greatly depleted. There are about one hundred and twenty-five varieties of birds, many of which swarm in enormous num- bers on the precipitous mountain sides. The Eskimo dog is regarded as the best sledge animal in the world ; and in the Southern Inspectorate the Danes have introduced a few of their do- mestic animals. The neighboring waters are rich in food for many varieties of sea animal life. Greenland waters were great hunting grounds for the right whale until it was practically exter- minated. The seal is the largest food resource of the natives, the walrus being next in impor- tance. Walrus ivory and hides are important articles of export. Industries and Commerce. The industries of Greenland are principally confined to fishing and hunting, and are almost exclusively in the hands of the natives. The unfavorable climatic condi- tions make agriculture, except a little gardening, impossible, and some of the necessaries and all of the luxuries of life are imported from Den- mark. The chief products of the Danish colony are seal and fish oils, skins, and cryolite. A Pennsylvania company has the exclusive privilege of mining and exporting cryolite to the Americas, Vol. IX.— 17. most of the output going to Philadelphia, though a little is sent to Copenhagen. The product is from 0000 to 12.000 tons a year. The commerce is a Government monopoly, and is under the con- trol of a separate department at ('o])enhagen. The prices paid to the natives for their products are below their market value, a circumstance V. Inch is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the Government .sells the necessaries of life at cost prices. The trade is carried on chiefly by barter, and commodities are supplied by the Government stores, which are found in every settlement. The exports and imports amounted to 340.000 kroner ($91,800) and 8:11,000 kroner (.$224,370) re- spectively in 1000. Government. The anea embraced in the Dan- ish colony is 40.000 square miles on the south- west coast and one settlement on the east coast, the whole including less than one-tenth of the area of the island. The administration is in the hands of the Greenland Connnission at Copen- hagen. At the head of the commission is a di- rector, who is appointed by the Crown at the suggestion of the ilinister of Foreign AlTairs, and in his turn appoints the two inspectors for the administration of the inspectorates of North and South Greenland into which Danish Greenland is divided. The inspectorates are divided into several settlements, which are administered by Danish agents appointed by the director of the commission, and have councils for the regulation of local. aft'airs. The capital of North Greenland is Godhavn. the most important settlement of the colony, and that of South Greenland, God- thaab. Poi>UL.TioN. The population of Danish Green- land, in 1890, numbered 10. .510. including 225 Europeans, almost exclusively Danes. The na- tive population has a large admi.xture of Euro- pean blood. Christianity is nominally professed by all the population of Southwest Greenland, but many of the native customs and superstitions still exist. For further facts relating to these natives and the Eskimo of other parts of Green- land, see E.SKIMO. For the exploration of Green- land, see Polar Re.se-rch. History. Greenland is supposed to have been first seen by Northmen early in the tenth century. The Norseman. Erik the Red, voyaged along the coasts in 98.5. and gave the country its name. Soon thereafter a settlement was made under his leadership; then Cliristianity was introduced. Early in the twelfth century a bishopric was founded in the country by the aid of the King of Norway. It was from Greenland that Leif Ericson set forth upon the voyage in the course of which he is supposed to have reached America. The population centred in two districts on the west coast. Western Bygd and Eastern Bygd. Greenland was at first an independent State with a constitution, and in most respects followed in Iceland's course of development. About 1200 it was constituted a Territory of Norway, and thus came into the union of Sweden and Den- mark at the close of the fourteenth century. It as prosperous in this new epoch, but its" pras- jierity was before long cut short by European troubles, and bv the black-death epidemic which visited it and Iceland. Also the "Skraellings' at- tacked the European settlements. Various mis- fortimes followed. A disastrous period of climate also fell upon the land. As a result Greenland became lost to the world, and remained practi-