Prior to World War II, Greenland, the largest island in the world, was a Danish colony governed by the Royal Danish Trading Company in the interests of the Danish Crown Family. Its eastern, ice bound coast was practically uninhabited, while on the western shore as far north as Godhavn, on Disko Island, there were a number of provinces, each with a capital, governor, numerous artisans with their families and a contingent group of Eskimos, called in this book West Greenlanders, all of whom were in close contact with the Danish civilization in these outposts. Far to the north lived the Polar Eskimo in the region of Melville Bay, Cape York and Etah, until recent years without contact with or knowledge of the outside world, except for the brief visits of exploring expeditions. Access to Greenland was prohibited to all except those on company service, expeditions such as those of Commander