19 



in the stage of culture. Certainly, as already mentioned, new 

 emigrants from the interior may then afterwards have joined 

 these pioneers even in places distant from the culture home, 

 but the new comers in doing so have wholly adopted the habits 

 of the latter and amalgamated with them. 



THE POSSIBILITY OF PRESENTLY ARRIVING AT 

 FÜRTHER CONCLUSIONS. Having considered the conclusions 

 which we believe may confidently be drawn concerning the first 

 settling down of Eskimo inhabitants in the arctic regions, our 

 next task will be to try what furthermore may be asserted 

 concerning the same question on probability. We have already 

 expressed our doubt concerning the opinion, that the immi- 

 grants should have reached the arctic or subarctic regions from 

 the south along the borders of the sea: We preferred to as- 

 sume that they have come from the interior of the continent 

 following the courses of rivers discharging into the arctic sea 

 or at least under high northern latitudes. This being granted, 

 the culture home would have been situated at the mouth of a 

 river, or of several rivers, and the nearest coast so as to en- 

 able it to receive, during the course of time, settlers from the 

 interior, while, on the other hand, emigrants successively spread 

 from this home over the arctic regions. The culture home in 

 this way would comprise, besides the coastline, the banks of 

 rivers in the vicinity of their outlets. The change of culture 

 to which the inhabitants were submitted certainly from a historical 

 point of view must be called abrupt, but nevertheless have 

 taken centuries. The population during this period must have 

 accumulated, and a rich fishery in the rivers seems to afïord 

 the only means of explanation as to how these people can have 

 gained their sustenance during such a period of transition. 



In the former volume an attempt has been made to show 

 how the dispersion af the first settlers seems to be indicated 

 by traces still to be observed in the state of the present inhabitants, 



