300 Dr King on the Physical Characters of the Esquimau^;. 



the cheek bones, which, turning backwards, meet a corres- 

 ponding projection of the temporal bone, forming with it a, 

 large rounded sweep. The upper part of the face is remarka- 

 bly flat, and the nasal bones are nearly on a plane with the 

 cheek bones. 



As we find the skull, so do the features correspond. The 

 face is round and full, and the nose is apparently sunk, owing 

 to the prominences of the cheeks, which sometimes exists to 

 such a degree, that a ruler placed across them will leave the 

 nose untouched.* Besides, there are peculiarities regarding 

 the eyes which do not depend upon the skeleton head. They 

 are small, and placed obliquely within the orbits, the inner 

 part being depressed, while the outer part is proportionably 

 raised ; and Mr Edwards, the surgeon to Sir Edward Parry's 

 second expedition, has pointed out a peculiarity common to 

 many individuals of Melville Peninsula, consisting in the inner 

 corner of the eye being covered by a duplication of the adja- 

 cent loose skin. This fold is lightly stretched over the edges 

 of the eye-lids, covering the carunculus lachrymalis, which in 

 Europeans is exposed, and forms, as it were, a third lid of a 

 crescentic shape. This singularity was ascertained to be very 

 remarkable in childhood, less so toward the adult age, and 

 then frequently disappearing altogether, the proportion in 

 which it existed in grown up persons being small compared 

 with that observed among the young. Although these are the 

 general features, they differ with individuals as is in all other 

 nations ; yet, like the Jews, they have, even when their counte- 

 nances are shaped like Europeans, an expression altogether 

 peculiar .t Oval faces and high Roman noses are occasionally 

 to be met with, and when this is the case with both parents, 

 the children always resemble them. 



Notwithstanding the general features of the Esquimaux do 

 not convey the general idea of beauty according to the Euro- 

 pean standard, still they have found more or less favour in the 

 eyes of every traveller who has visited them. Captain Cook 

 thought few were of the handsome sort, though their counte- 

 nances commonly indicated a considerable share of vivacity, 



♦ Lyon. t Ibid. 



