Eskimos, their Geographical Distribution and Origin. 323 



natives that I have been acquainted with (four in all), were 

 strictly honest, and adhered rigidly to the truth ; and I have 

 every reason to believe, that within their own community the 

 rights of property are held in great respect, even the hunt- 

 ing-grounds of families being kept sacred. Yet their covet- 

 ousness of the property of strangers, and their dexterity in 

 thieving, are remarkable, and they seem to have most of the 

 vices, as well as the virtues, of the Norwegian Vikingr. 

 Their personal bravery is conspicuous, and they are the only 

 native nation on the North American continent who oppose 

 their enemies face to face in open fight. Instead of flying, 

 like the northern Indians, on the sight of a stranger, they 

 did not scruple, in parties of two or three, to come off to our 

 boats and enter into barter, and never on any occasion shew- 

 ed the least disposition to yield any thing belonging to them 

 through fear. — {Sir John Bichardson). 



Origin of the Eskimos. 



The origin of the Eskimos has been much discussed, as 

 being the pivot on which the inquiry into the original peopling 

 of. America has been made to turn. The question has been 

 fairly and ably stated by Dr Latham, in his recent work 

 " On the Varieties of Man," to which I must refer the 

 reader ; and I shall merely remark, that the Eskimos differ 

 more in physical aspect from their nearest neighbours than 

 the red races do from one another. Their lineaments have 

 a decided resemblance to the Tartar or Chinese countenance. 

 On the other hand, their language is admitted by philologists 

 to be similar to the other North American tongues in its 

 grammatical structure ; so that, as Dr Latham has forcibly 

 stated, the dissociation of the Eskimos from the neighbour- 

 ing nations, on account of their physical dissimilarity, is met 

 by an argument for their mutual affinity, deduced from philo- 

 logical coincidences. — {Sir John Richardson.) 



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