The Ammassalik Eskimo. 459 
vate collection which the Editor was at that time endeavouring to dis- 
pose of abroad”?*, — Hr. THOMSEN's inverted commas after ”abroad" are 
due to a slip or error of his own, for it is not, of course, his intention to 
give any citation or to accuse any other of having disposed of the collection, 
but me. Ås to his note 2, see p. 394. 
My assistance in the matter consisted solely in recommending 
this collection, and was but a natural expression of gratitude on my 
part for the untiring assistance which Hr. JoHAaN PETERSEN had ren- 
dered me during my winter at Ammassalik, and for his courtesy in 
permitting me to photograph his collection for publication. With the 
practical side of the business, however, I had nothing whatever to do. 
I need not add that Hr. JOHAN PETERSEN had made his collection at 
his own expense and that he, as a matter of course, had his hands 
free in disposing of it. 
The manner in which JoHAN PETERSEN's collection was finally 
disposed of (in December 1910) ıs an open secret. The Director succeeded, 
in a way which can not exactly be characterized as considerate, in brin- 
ging pressure to bear upon Hr. JoHAN PETERSEN (then a subordinate 
official in the service of the State) whereby it became possible for the Di- 
rector to procure this valuable collection for his Museum. As a result 
of this inconsiderate and offensive treatment, the owner of the collec- 
tion obtained exactly half the sum which he had asked (and could easily 
have obtained) abroad. — To avoid any misunderstanding on the part 
of readers unacquainted with the exact conditions, I may here call 
to mind that JOHAN PETERSEN’s position as an official in Greenland 
did not involve any sort of obligation towards the Museum; on the con- 
trary, the Museum had for years been indebted to him for repeated 
consignments, comprising not only specimens which he had been com- 
missioned to procure, but also others voluntarily contributed by him!, 
And I may also point out, that many foreign museums actually pos- 
sess ethnographical collections from Greenland, and even from Ammas- 
salik itself, which have been procured at some time or other through 
Danish officials in this our Arctic colony?. Hr. Joman PETERSEN was 
naturally as free as his colleagues in regard to disposing of his collec- 
tion. It would certainly seem that the Director of our Museum De- 
partment must have been aware of these facts when he entered upon 
a transaction of this nature. 
In this manner then, the Director succeeded in obtaining for his 
Museum a valuable collection at a low price. Hr. THOMSEN is perfectly 
correct in stating that I was not unacquainted with the (scientific) 
value of the collection; his next remark, however, is somewhat sur- 
prising. If the Museum ethnographers took it for granted that JoHAN 
1 cf. THOMSEN р. 3821013, 
? See my book (1914) р. 326 and 669—70. 
