Stranica 1 [1]
A,N2 or August
IMPRESSIONS FROM GREENLAND.
NOTE : the observer who has given us these infomations has just
retumed from a flying trip to Greenland in connection of certain
economic surveys he was called upon to make in the country. He is
not one of our usual observers,
The first and basic impression of the observer is a
two-pronged : the great beauty of the land, its magnificent sce¬
neries and the efeat lonelyness of a country with but very littie
population 3 second the high type of the few people who live on
the land, almost exclusively on its Western Coast,
A few facts are essential : the Island has 2,175,600
square kilometers, The population, as last counted, was 21,000,
though according to local informations it must have increased
since, to somewhere around 24.000* The Capital City of the South,
capital of the whole Island and residence of the Governor is
Godthaab with a population of 800. The Capital city of the North
is Godhavn, pope300. The main airport is at Juliamehaab, po.800.
Important is also the "city" of Sukkertoppen with also 800 people.
The population is composed of Eskimos and Danes, The
Eskimos are very friendly, get along beautifully with the Danes,
They are mostly hunters and fishers, They are not keen on pro¬
gress, will not be easily "civilized", but are quite happy in
their present status of life, In fact, they show a magnificent
sense of adaptation to the natural variations of their envi¬
ronment, They have the gift to live on the land. As they have
no agriculture, no forestry, they get everything from the sea.
They use driftwood and fishes bones, skins and especially oil.
Their sheep live of the grass, Their permanent huts are made of
grasse As long as they are not in too close contact whth civi¬
lization, they maintain their numbers, despite poor health and
incredibly short span of lifee But in touch with civilization,
their number decreases rapidly, since they have a great tendency
to everything that is bad in this civilization. Somehow their
fate seems similar to the one of the American Indian, though the
Danes do everything to help them, The Danes on the Islend are of
a very high type. They are enthusiastic Greenlenders. Somehow. the
lend has a terrible force of attramtio#i. People there are quite
happy,- despite cold, harsship and isolation, It is a fact that
an