Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/73

 piece 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.

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.

Through the kindness of Mr. Hansen, I obtained here three native hunters, and also an interpreter. This latter had taken passage by the Thialfe for 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 language