Ethnographic Description of the Eskimo Settlements 321 



When the air became warmer, in April and May, and the seals 

 began to come up on the ice, the Eskimos have then moved out 

 of their winter-houses, which would now be unpleasant to live in 

 owing to the water dripping through the roof and the dampness 

 generally. 



After moving from the winter-houses, the Eskimos have remained 

 in the tents at Foraarsboplads until the salmon fishing and the musk- 

 ox hunting began at Sælsøen, and the migration to Sælsøen has 

 then taken place. Whilst at Foraarsboplads they have hunted the 

 bear, reindeer and musk-ox, also the seals which they have approa- 

 ched by creeping over the ice. The boys and the older people 

 have now and then been able to aid the supplies with a hare or 

 a bird, and later the eggs of the birds have been searched for. The 

 walrus has scarcely appeared as yet, so that walrus flesh could 

 not be collected into the permanent meat-depots, before the migra- 

 tion to Sælsøen. 



This is, of course, only an hypothesis, but it seems to me the 

 most natural manner in which the Eskimos who lived here in the 

 interior of the fjord could have undertaken their migrations. 



Mørkefjord (lat. 76° 56', long. 20° 58'). This fjord is quite a nar- 

 row arm of Dove Bugt, which extends in towards the inland ice. 

 At the entrance of the fjord Freuchen found a tent-ring (656), but 

 it was so covered over with snow that it could not be measured. 



Væderen (lat. 76° 52', long. 20° 38'). This rocky mass lies 6-9 

 kilometers S. W. of Rypefjeldet and here tent-rings and 1 shelter were 

 found. 



The shelter (657) was found by the Greenlanders Jørgen Brøn- 

 LUND and ToRiAS Gabrielsen on the south-east side. The latter 

 gave me the measurements of it, and I let him draw it (PI. III). On 

 comparing the measurements with the drawing I found that the two 

 agreed; I have no hesitation, therefore, in giving the measurements 

 here. The shelter was oval, 200 M. long and 150 M. broad. The 

 row of stones was 050 M. broad and 025 M. high. The stones used 

 were exclusively white (calcspar) (cf. p. 197). It was open towards 

 the east (towards the sea). Jørgen Brønlund obtained the impres- 

 sion, that what he had seen was a sacred spot or a spot consecrated 

 to religious use. I have spoken later with Tobias about the matter 

 and after he had seen other shelters along with me, he was also 

 inclined to believe that it was a shelter. That it was exclusively 

 formed of white stones, has probably had some religious signifi- 

 cance. 



