lived a hardy little man;
His wife, renowned for spirit high,
Rejoiced in her large family;--
Four sturdy sons, four maidens brown,
Gathered in harmony around
Their fireplace, and together dwelt,
And love for one another felt.
One fateful day there came along
Six Iceland fishers, stern and strong.
The Esquimaux in terror fled
From spirits evil, so they said;
But meeting them with friendly mien,
The pigmies soon at ease were seen.
The giants more contented grew,
And eager searched for knowledge new;
But erst they thought of native shore,
And longed to view their home once more.
At length, in venturous spirit bold,
Their purpose to their friends they told,
To seek their lov'd land once again,
By crossing on the frozen main.
The trial made, the deed was done!
A victory great, and nobly won!
Three families assistance lent.
Upon returning they were bent,
Till finding this a better land,
They settled on the barren strand;
In mission schools were kindly taught,
And daily grew in word and thought.

Five years rolled by; consumption's claim
Was laid upon the mother's frame.
The father loved his youngest child,
And with her crossed the ocean wild;
With many mishaps, much fatigue,
They found a home in Winnipeg.

Five years again had claimed their own;
The daughter now to woman grown,
Though but a little child for size,
Assayed a wond'rous enterprise--
To win from gen'rous strangers' hand,
By telling of her native land,
Her fortune, and to meet once more
Her sisters three and brothers four.
Pray tell me, friend, didst e'er thou find
A braver spirit, nobler mind,
A name more worthy to go down
On hist'ry's page with bright renown?

* * * * *

Captain Holm recently returned to Copenhagen, after having spent two
years and a half exploring the almost unknown region of the east coast
of Greenland. Although ten or twelve expeditions have set out for East
Greenland in the past two centuries, almost all of them in search of the
lost Norsemen, who were supposed to have settled there, only one ship
ever reached the coast.

The great ice masses, sometimes hundreds of miles wide, that are
perpetually piled up against the shore, have kept explorers from East
Greenland long after all Arctic lands were fairly well known. With three
assistants, Captain Holm landed at Cape Farewell, and then went north