s temporarily filled by a
gentleman who had been good enough to accompany him on board,--the
surgeon of the settlement, Doctor Molke; and then stepping aside, Doctor
Molke passed through the narrow doorway and stood before me, bowing. I
bowed in return, and bade him welcome, saying, I suppose, just what any
other person would have said under like circumstances, (not, however,
supposing for a moment that I was understood,) and then, turning to the
officer, I signified my wish that he should act as interpreter. But that
was needless. My Greenland visitor answered me, in pure, unbroken
English, with as little hesitation as if he had spoken no other language
all his life; and in conclusion he said: "I come to invite you to my
poor house, and to offer you my service. I can give you but a feeble
welcome in this outlandish place, but such as I have is yours; and if
you will accompany me ashore, I shall be much delighted."

The delight was mutual; and it was not many minutes before, seated in
the stern sheets of a whale-boat, we were pulling towards the land.

My new-found friend interested me at once. The surprise at finding
myself addressed in English was increased when I discovered that this
Greenland official bore every mark of refinement, culture, and high
breeding. His manner was wholly free from restraint; and it struck me as
something odd that all the self-possession and ease of a thorough man of
the world should be exhibited in this desert place. He did not seem to
be at all aware that there was anything incongruous in either his dress
or manner and his present situation; yet this man, who sat with me in
the stern sheets of a battered whale-boat, pulling across a Greenland
harbor to a Greenland settlement, might, with the simple addition of a
pair of suitable gloves, have stepped as he was into a ball-room without
giving rise to any other remark than would be excited by his bearing.

His graceful figure was well set off by a neatly fitting and closely
buttoned blue frock-coat, ornamented with gilt buttons, and embroidered
cuffs, and heavily braided shoulder-knots. A decoration on his breast
told that he was a favorite with his king. His finely shaped head was
covered by a blue cloth cap, having a gilt band and the royal emblems.
Over his shoulders was thrown a cloak of mottled seal-skins, lined with
the warm and beautiful fur of the Arctic fox. His cleanly shaven face
was finely formed and full of force, while a soft