vegetables, which I cannot call to mind, and whose names indeed are
altogether unknown to me. Their most common berries are those called
blew-berries, tittle-berries, and bramble-berries. Multe-berries, which
are common in Norway, do not arrive here to any perfection, on account
of the thick fogs that hang upon the islands, when these plants bud.
This country affords the most pleasant prospect about the latitude of
60° to 64°, and seems fit to be manured for the produce of all sorts of
grain; and there are to this day marks of acres and arable land to be
observed. I myself once made a trial of sowing barley in the bay joining
to our new colony, which sprung up so fast, that it stood in its full
ears towards the latter end of July; but did not come to ripeness, on
account of the night frost which nipped it and hindered its growth. But
as this grain was brought over from Bergen in Norway, no doubt it wanted
a longer summer and more heat to ripen. But I am of opinion, that corn
which grows in the more Northern parts of Norway would thrive better in
Greenland, inasmuch as those climates agree better together. Turnips and
cole are very good here, and of a sweet taste, especially the turnips,
which are pretty large.
I must observe to you, that all that has been said of the fruitfulness
of the Greenland soil is to be understood of the latitude of 60° to
65°, and differs according to the different degrees of latitude. For in
the most Northern parts you find neither herbs nor plants; so that the
inhabitants cannot gather grass enough to put in their shoes to keep
their feet warm, but are obliged to buy it from the Southern parts.
Of Greenland metals or minerals I have little or nothing to say. It is
true, that about two Norway miles to the South of the colony of Good
Hope, on a promontory, there are here and there green spots to be seen,
like verdigris, which shows there must be some copper ore. And a certain
Greenlander once brought me some pieces not unlike lead ore. There is
likewise a sort of calamine, which has the colour of yellow brass. In my
expedition upon discoveries, I found, on a little island where we
touched, some yellow sand, mixed with sinople red, or vermillion
strokes, of which I sent a quantity over to the directors of the
Greenland company at Bergen, to make a trial of it; upon which they
wrote me an answer, that I should endeavour to get as much as I could of
the same sand; but to theirs as well as my own disappointment, I never
was able to find the said island again, where I had got this sand, as it
was but a very small and insignificant one, situate among a great many
others; and the mark I had taken care to put up was by the wind blown
down. Nevertheless there has been enough of the same stuff found up and
down in the country, which, when it is burnt, changes its former colour
for a reddish hue, which it likewise does if you keep it awhile shut up
close.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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