Gatschet.] ^Z4 [May 7, 



formed a race for themselves and spoke a language independent of any 

 other, or are racially and linguistically linked to other nations or tribes. 



Our means for studying their racial characteristics are very scanty. No 

 accurate measurements of their bodies are on hand, a few skulls only are 

 left as tangible remnants of their bodily existence (described by George 

 Rusk ; cf. p. 413). Their appearance, customs and manners, lodges and 

 canoes seem to testify in favor of a race separate from the Algonkins and 

 Eskimos around them, but are too powerless to prove anything. Thus we 

 have to rely upon language alone to get a glimpse at their origin or earliest 

 condition. 



A comparison with the Labrador and Greenland limit language, com- 

 monly called Eskimo, has yielded to me no term resting on real affinity. 

 The Greenlandish attausek one, and B. yaseek one agree in the suffix only. 



R. G. Latham has adduced some parallels of Beothuk with Tinne" dia- 

 lects, especially with Taculli, spoken in the Rocky Mountains. But he does 

 not admit such rare parallels as proof of affinity, and in historic times at 

 least, the Beothuks dwelt too far from the countries held by Tinne Indians 

 to render any connection probable. 



Not the least affinity is traceable between Beothuk and Iroquois voca- 

 bles, nor does the phonology of the two yield any substantial points of 

 equality. Tribes of the Iroquois stock once held the shores of the St. 

 Lawrence river down to the environs of Quebec, perhaps further to the 

 northeast and thus lived at no great distance from Newfoundland. 



All that is left for us to do is to compare the sundry Algonkin dialects 

 with the remnants of the Beothuk speech. Among these, the Micmac of 

 Nova Scotia and parts of the adjoining mainland, the Abnaki of New 

 Brunswick and Maine, the Naskapi of Labrador will more than others en- 

 gross our attention, as being spoken in the nearest vicinity of Newfound- 

 land. The first of these, Micmac, was spoken also upon the isle itself. 

 Here as everywhere else, words growing out of the roots of the language 

 and therefore inherent to it, have to be carefully distinguished from terms 

 borrowed of other languages. It will be best to make here a distinction 

 between Beothuk terms undoubtedly Algonkin in phonetics and significa- 

 tion and other Beothuk terms, which resemble some words found in Algon- 

 kin dialects. Words of these two categories form part of the list of duplex 

 Beothuk terms for one English word, as given on a previous page. 



(1) Beothuk words also occurring in Algonkin dialects : 

 -eesh, -ish, suffix forming diminutive nouns ; occurs in various forms in all 



the Eastern Algonkin dialects, 

 mamishet ; mamseet alive, living; Micmac meemajeet, perhaps transposed 



from almajeet. 

 mattuis hammer; Abnaki mattoo. 



mandee devil; Micmac maneetoo, Naskapi (matchi) mantuie. 

 odemen, odemet ochre; Micmac odemen. 



shebon, sheebin river ; Micmac seiboo ; sibi, sipi in all Eastern Algonkin 

 dialects for long river. 



