At the suggestion of
Hans Christian Ørsted, it was in Berlin that he received an offer to participate as a mineralogist for the first of the
Galathea expeditions aboard the frigate
Galathea. The voyage lasted from 1845 through 1847. He was intent on going to
Calcutta, but he ended up at the
Nicobar Islands, colonized by Denmark at the time, to investigate them geographically. After five months he fell ill with Nicobar Fever, weakening him the rest of his life, and forcing his return to Denmark. On the return trip, he stopped in
Cairo and
Malta, where, in October 1846, he collected geological materials. In 1847, his first major geographical work, "The Nicobarese islands", was published. From 1848 until 1851, with public support, he went to Western Greenland for geological and glaciological studies at
Upernavik and
Umanak. Here, he lived among the
Kalaallit which gave him an opportunity to study them. But his objective was to create a map of Greenland based on the surveys that he performed and those of others. He was able to survey large areas of Western Greenland's fjords and their glaciers. In the last year, he spent some time in
Ilulissat and sailed to Paakitsoq, a bay in Western Greenland. He travelled by sledge to
Sermeq Kujalleq in the spring of 1851. He mapped the Greenland coast, and made the first geological map of it. Rink's surveys are notable as the first in a series of ice margin change surveys that have lasted over 150 years. Rink established a print shop in Godthaab in 1861, the South Greenland Press, and founded with his wife the first Greenlandic language newspaper,
Atuagagdliutit (translation: "Readings"). Its first issue was published in January 1861, and it was published monthly thereafter. In addition to the newspaper, the print shop published pamphlets. Rink actively cared for the welfare of the Inuit, with whom he had close contact. It was his idea and under his guidance, that the Commission's board members were introduced, which ensured Greenlanders' influence on their own affairs. In 1858, he called on local people to learn their artistic traditions. He helped discover and promote the artists Jens Kreutzmann and Aron of Kangeq. Rink studied the
Greenlandic language and folklore;
Eskimo tales and legends was published in 1866. In 1868, forced to leave Greenland for health reasons, Rink again returned to Copenhagen. From 1871 until 1882, he served as Director of the Royal Greenland Trading Department. In that capacity, he headed the Greenlandic trade administration. In Copenhagen, he founded the Grønlænderhjem for young
Inuit to learn a craft so they could more easily obtain employment. Rink was a Corresponding Member of the
Royal Geographical Society. He received the Silver Medal from the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1852. ==Personal life==