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this hole that the rower places himself. Supplied
with a single oar, which is very thin, three or four
feet long, and becoming broader at the two sides,
the navigator, or to speak more correctly, the man-
fish, paddling rapidly to the right and left, advances
in a straight line across the foaming waves in the
midst of the tempest itself, without incurring more
risk than the whales and phocae of whom he is
become the companion and rival. This invention,
which was admired by Captain Cook, and is adopt-
ed in part by the Norwegian and Danish pilots,
could not possibly have made its appearance by
mere chance under exactly the same form, among
all the tribes ofthe northern extremities of Ameri-
ca. These tribes consequently, must have the
same common descent, and must long have com-
municated together.
The present character of the Greenlanders is an
indefinable mixture of good and bad qualities;
while their attachments to their national customs,
opposes the influence of foreign civilization. The
Greenlanders bitterly accuse the Danes and other
navigators of having brought among them the
double scourge of small-pox and spirituous liquors.
The present well regulated Danish administration
follows a plan of colonization calculated for estab-
lishing order and happiness; but the ancient
defects and modern vices of the Greenlanders
present great obstacles to the system. Almost
entire'v destitute of every idea of religion and of
law. our religious worship appears in their eyes,
nothing but a useless ceremony, while they look
upon our criminal punishments as an unjust abuse
of power. The malefactor appears to them to be
sufficiently punished, when in a public assembly,
he is loaded with reproaches. The missionaries
confess that the conversion of the Greenlanders
advances slowly, and exerts but little influence
over their moral ideas. For some years back
however,' the preaching of natives educated as
missionaries, has been productive of a happy
change. The Moravians have also succeeded in
a remarkable manner in engaging the affections,
and reforming the conduct of this simple people,
who are gifted with considerable quickness of per-
ception. The commercial administration, by in-
troducing numerical calculation, and even paper
money, lrave given them new notions with regard
to property. In the southern part of the country,
they have been taught to make barrels and con-
struct boats. The name of their ancient divinity,
Torngursook, to whom they never offered any
worship, is already forgotten as well as the malevo-
lent goddess without a name, who was supposed
to inhabit a palace at the bottom of the sea, guard-
ed by terrific sea-dogs. Even a kind of philosophy
hxs introduced itself among them, and various
new opinions exist concerning a future state and
the transmigration of souls. The freethinkers of
Greenland will not admit the prevalent belief that
there is a paradise, where the soul in a state of
happy indolence, is nourished with the heads of
sea-dogs. The priests and sorcerers, called An-
gekok7 and the malevolent enchanters denomi-
nated Ilisicts. are daily losing their influence.
Perhaps the period may not be far distant, when
the sublime devotion of the virtuous Egede will
meet with its reward, and a Christian and civil-
ized people will at length inhabit this memorable
colony, the most northern that the Europeans have
ever established. A mild and pure glory will then
recompense Denmark for the pecuniary sacrifices
which this struggle with the elements has cost her,
a struggle into which she has been drawn by a
pious zeal, and the influence of historical recol-
lections. |
Greenland, p.t Rockingham Co. N. H. 5 m.
from Portsmouth. Pop. 681.
Greenlaw, a town of Scotland, capital of Ber-
wickshire, though a small place. Here are the
remains of two religious houses. It is seated
on the Blackadder, 8 m. S. W. of Dunse, and 36
S. E. of Edinburgh.
Green Mountains, a branch of the Apalachian
chain in Vermont, extending through the state
from N. to S. In the souti.ern part they consti-
tute a single range, but toward the centre of the
state they divide into two branches and pass off
separately into Canada. The eastern slope of the
mountains is watered ny the tributaries of tne
Connecticut, and the western slope by the streams
falling into Lake Champlain. The highest point
is Killmgton Peak, near Rutland, 3.924 feet above
the sea. Camel's Rump, between Montpelier and
Burlington, and Mansfield Mountain in the same
neighbourhood, are each above 3,500 feet high.
Throughout the state these mountains are from
10 to 15 miles in breadth They are every where
intersected with valleys, abounding in springs
and streams, and exhibiting that perpetual verdure
which has conferred upon them their name. Their
sides are completely covered with woods, and
their rocky summits are clad in a coat of green
moss. The trees appear old, but small; they are
all of the evergreen sort, pine, spruce, hemlock
and fir, intermixed with shrubs and bushes.
Vegetation decreases on approaching the top of
the mountains; the trees diminish in size, and fre-
quently terminate in a shrubbery of spruce and
hemlock, two or three feet high, with branches so
interwoven as to prevent all passage through them.
Trees of this height with shrubs and vines pro-
ducing berries, and a species of weed called win-
ter grass, mixed with the moss of rocks, are all
the vegetation which the mountains produce.
The si des of the mountains are generally rugged
and irregular ; some of them have large aper-
tures and caves. The thick, green moss which
coats their tops, is so compact and firm, and
lies in such extensive beds, as to reach from rock
to rock, and they will sometimes bear the weight
of a man without being broken through. These
immense spongy masses receive the moisture sup-
plied by the clouds and rain, and while a part of
it runs down the sides of the mountain, much of
it is absorbed, and penetrates the whole mass. In
this manner, several of these mountains are con-
tinually wet on their tops, and have large marshy
spots,, which are the constant resort of water
fowl during the warm season. The roads across
them are frequently wet and miry, when the
valleys below are dry.
The mountains exhibit but few rocky or sterile
tracts, and afford generally excellent pasturage
for sheep and cattle
Greenock, the chief sea-port of Scotland, in Ren-
frewshire, at the mouth ofthe Clyde, with a small
fort for the defence of the harbour. Here are sev-
eral dry docks, and the building and rigging of
skips is much followed. It has a great trade ; and
the fisheries, particularly for herrings, and the
Newfoundland fishery, are carried on to a great
extent. In 1801 the number of inhabitants was
17,458, and in 1821,22,088. It is 24 miles W. by
N. of Glasgow, of which it is the port. Long. 4.
47. W., lat. 55. 56. N.
Green River, a stream of Kentucky falling into
the Ohio, about 250 m. itt length.
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