_Of the Customs, Virtues, and Vices, and the Manners or Way of Life of the Greenlanders_ 123 CHAP. XI. _Of their Habits and Way of Dressing_ 130 CHAP. XII. _Of their Diet, and manner of dressing their Victuals_ 135 CHAP. XIII. _Of their Marriages, and Education of their Children_ 140 CHAP. XIV. _How the Greenlanders mourn and bury their dead Friends_ 143 CHAP. XV. _Of their Pastimes and Diversions, as also their Poetry_ 154 CHAP. XVI. _Of their Language_ 163 CHAP. XVII. _Of the Greenland Trade, and whether in promoting it there is any advantage to be expected_ 179 CHAP. XVIII. _The Religion, or rather Superstition, of the Greenlanders_ 183 CHAP. XIX. _The Astronomy of the Greenlanders, or their Thoughts concerning the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets_ 206 CHAP. XX. _The Capacity of the Greenlanders, and their Inclination towards the Knowledge of God, and the Christian Religion; and by what Means this may easily be brought about_ 214 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. [Illustration] The regions in the neighbourhood of the North Pole have lately become the objects of increased curiosity; and among these regions Greenland has attracted a more than usual interest. This country was first peopled by a colony from Iceland, which occupied both the Western and Eastern parts of the Island. The first settlers in the West appear to have been destroyed by the natives, who are denominated Skrellings; and though a communication was preserved for several centuries between the Eastern coast of Greenland and some parts of the Danish territory, yet it was interrupted about the close of the fourteenth century by accumulated masses of ice, which formed an impenetrable barrier of considerable extent around the shore; and though various attempts have been made, at different times, to explore a passage through this frozen rampart, yet there is no definite account of any attempt of this kind which has hitherto been successful. May we hope that the execution of this project, which is prompted, not only by curiosity but by philanthropy, is reserved for the present era, and that it will be finally accomplished by the nautical skill and enterprise of this country!