Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/74

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to 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:—

,               Interpreter and dog-manager. ,           Sailor. ,    Sailor and Carpenter. (converted Esquimau), Hunter and dog-driver. ,   "        "          "            ",     "        "          "            "

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.