Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/70

 moored 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 the Thialfe. 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 north-*ward.

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 a