GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 771 



The above named antlior furthermore refers to natives raakinjji)6i^cil 

 and pen-and-ink sketches, one in particular having taught himself by 

 copying from the " Illustrated London ISTews." These sketches, " though 

 creditable in many respects, had the defects of many Chinese pictures, 

 bein-g faulty in perspective." Doctor Rosse concludes by saying: 



As these drawings eciiial those in Doctor Rink's book, done by Greenland artists, 1 

 regret my inability to reproduce them here. As e\'idences of culture, they show 

 more advancement than the carvings of English rustics that a clergyman has caused 

 to be placed on exhibition at the Kensington J.Iuseuin. 



Doctor Henry Eink ' says : 



The art exhibited by the Alaska Eskimo in ornamenting their weapons and uten- 

 sils is often mentioned in travelers' reports from the time when they were first 

 visited by Europeans. To their skill in carving and engraving, we must join this 

 taste displayed in the same way in making their clothing. Again, when we pass 

 from Alaska to the east, we see this relish for the fine arts declining, and in western 

 Greenland proofs of it have been rather scarce. But the latest expedition to the 

 east coast of this country has discovered that a small isolated tribe here in the vast 

 deserts of the extreme oast almost rivals the Alaska artists with respect to carving 

 in bone and ornamenting their weapons and utensils. The chief difference is, that 

 in Alaska, engravings illustrating human life and the animals of the country are the 

 most popular objects of the artist, whereas the east Greenlanders excel in small 

 reliefs representing for the most ])art animals and mythological beings grouped 

 together and fastened with admirable taste and care to the surface of the wooden 

 implements. 



With reference to the arts of the Eskimo of Greenland, Doctor 

 Henry Eink- remarks: 



It must be noticed that though the present Greenlanders appear to have a pretty 

 fair talent for drawing and writing, scarcely any traces of the arts of drawing and 

 sculpture belonging to earlier times remain, with the exception of a few small 

 images cut out in wood or bone, which have probably served children as play- 

 things. The western Eskimo, on the other hand, displayed great skill in carving 

 bone ornaments, principally on weapons and tools. 



Drawings made by Greenland Eskimo for Doctor Eink greatly 

 resemble the American schoolboys' efforts. A recent production of 

 precisely like character in almost every respect is from the island of 

 Kolguev, and reproduced herewith in plate, together with the following 

 explanation : 



Some interesting illustrations of Samoyed drawings are given by Mr. 

 Aubyn Trevor- Battye in his ''Ice-bound on Kolguev," Westminster, 

 1805. Kolguev Island lies 50 miles north of Arctic Europe, and is sep- 

 iirated from the continent by what is known as Barent's Sea. It is 

 about midway, in distance, between Waygat Island — immediately scnth 

 ol Xovaya Zemblya — and the eastern extremity of Lapland. The 

 Samoyeds here are entirely isolated, from the fact that they possess no 

 boats that could venture 50 miles across the sea — an interesting cir- 



1 "The Eskimo Tribes." Copenhagen and London, 1887, pp. 15, 16. 



'-"Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo." Edinburgh and London, 1875, p. 69. 



