o2 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 
state of development and habits of thought—one the lazy improvidence of the Eskimo, and the 
other the “to-morrow” ot the Spaniard, who has indulged that propensity so far that his nation 
has become one of yesterday. 
The change of the Eskimo language, brought about by its coming in contact with another, forms 
an important element in its history, and has been mentioned by the older writers, also by Gilder, 
who reports a change in the language of the Iwillik Eskimo to have taken place since the advent 
among them of the white men. Among other peculiarities of their phraseology occurs the word 
“tanuk” signifying whiskey, and it is said to have originated with an old Eskimo employed by 
Moore as a guide and dog driver when he wintered in Plover Bay. Every day about noon that 
personage was in the habit of taking his appetizer and usually said to the Eskimo, ‘Come, Joe, 
let’s take our tonic.” Like most of his countrymen, Joe was not slow to learn the meaning of the 
word, and to this day the firm hold “tanuk” has on the language is only equaled by the thirst 
for the fluid which the name implies. Among the Asiatic Eskimo the word “um-muck” is com- 
mon for “rum,” while ‘“‘em-mik” means water. Even words brought by whalers from the South 
Sea Islands have obtained a footing, such as “kow-kow” for food, a word in general use, and 
‘‘pow” for ‘‘no,” or “not any.” They also call their babies “‘ pick-a-nee-nee,” which to many per- 
sons will suggest the Spanish word or the southern negro idiom for “baby.” The phrase “ pick- 
a-nee-nee kowkow” is the usual formula in begging food for their children. An Eskimo, having 
sold us a reindeer, said it would be “mazinkah kowkow” (good eating), and one windy day we 
were hauling the seine, and an Eskimo seeing its empty condition when pulled on to{the beach, 
said “* Pow?’ fish; bimeby ‘pow’ wind, plenty fish.” 
The fluency with which some of these fellows speak a mixture of pigeon English and whale- 
man’s jargon is quite astonishing, and suggests the query whether their fluency results from the 
aggressiveness of the English or whether it is an evidence of their aptitude? It seems wonderful 
how a people we are accustomed to look upon as ignorant, benighted, and undeveloped, can learn 
to talk English with a certain degree of fluency and intelligibility from the short intercourse held 
once a year with a few passing ships. How many ‘“hoodlums” in San Francisco, for instance, 
learn anything of Norwegian or German from frequenting the wharves? How many “wharf rats” 
or stevedores in New York learn anything of these languages from similar intercourse? Or, for 
that matter, we may ask, How many New York pilots have acquired even the smallest modicum 
of French from boarding the steamers of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique ? 
From a few examples it will be seen that the usage followed by the Eskimo in its grammatical 
variations rests on the fixity of the radical syllable and upon the agglomeration of the different 
particles intended to modity the primitive sense of this root, that is to say upon the principle of 
agglutinative languages. One or two instances may sutlice to show the agglutinate character of 
the language. Canoe is “o-me-uk;” ship, ‘‘o-me-uk-puk ;” steamer, “ o-me-uk-puk-ignelik ;” and 
this composite mechanical structure reaches its climax in steam-launch, which they call “ o-me-uk- 
puk-ignelik-pick-a-nee-nee.” 
For snow and ice in their various forms there are also many words, which show further the 
polysynthetic structure of the language—a fact contrary to that primitive condition of speech 
where there are no inflections to indicate the relations of the words to each other. It will not do 
to omit “O-kee-chuck” from this enumeration—a word signifying trade, barter, or sale, and one 
most commonly heard among these people. When they wish to say a thing is bad they use 
“ A-shu-ruk,” and when disapproval is meant they say “ pe-chuk.” The latter word also expresses 
general negation. For instance, on looking into several unoccupied houses a native informs us 
“Innuit pechuk,” meaning that the people are away or not at home; ‘Allopar” is cold, and 
‘“allopar pechuk” is hot. Persons fond of tracing resemblances may find in “Ignik” (fire) a 
similarity to the Latin ignis or the English “ignite,” and from ‘ Un-gi-doo-ruk” (big, huge) the 
transition down to “ hunky-dory” is easy. Those who see a sort of complemental relation to each 
other of linguistic affinity and the conformity in physical characters may infer from “ Mikey-doo- 
rook” (a term of endearment equivalent to “Mavourneen” and used in addressing little children) 
that the inhabitants within the Polar Circle have something of the Emerald Isle about them. But 
no, they are not Irish, for when they are about to leave the ship or any other place for their houses 
they say “‘to-hum;” consequently they are Yankees. 
