At last the couriers had all come in, bringing unwelcome news. A half-dozen old dogs and a less number of good ones were all that I had to console myself for the delay; but the Chief Trader had returned to Upernavik, from which place I had received more encouraging accounts than from the lower stations. [Illustration] CHAPTER IV. UPERNAVIK.--HOSPITALITY OF THE INHABITANTS.--DEATH AND BURIAL OF GIBSON CARUTHERS.--A LUNCH ON BOARD.--ADIEU. We put to sea early in the morning of the 12th, and in the evening of the same day were at Upernavik. The entrance to the harbor is somewhat unsafe, owing to a reef which lies outside the anchorage; but we were fortunate in obtaining a native pilot at Pröven, and ran in without accident. This pilot was a character in his way. It seems that he had been converted from his heathen ways, and rejoiced in the benefits of baptism and the name of Adam. Dressed in a well-worn suit of seal-skins, Adam had about him little of the sailor trigness; yet, though not a Palinurus, no pilot in all the world had ever a higher appreciation of his personal importance. His appearance, however, was not calculated to inspire any great degree of confidence in his skill; and the sailing-master plied him so incessantly with questions that he at length grew impatient; and, concentrating his vanity and knowledge into one short sentence, which signified plainly, "I am master of the situation," he informed that officer that there was "plenty water all de times, no rocks altogeder," and retired with every mark of offended dignity. He was correct in his information, if not in his English. We found the Danish brig _Thialfe_ lying snugly 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 northward. [Sidenote: UPERNAVIK] [Sidenote: THE PARSONAGE]