261 



joined the Polar Eskimos, among whom he married and re- 

 mained until I. I. Hayes' expedition found him at Cape York 

 on August 25^'' I860 and took him onboard with his wife and 

 child, to serve as interpreter. The winter of 1860 — 61 was 

 passed by the expedition in Foulke Fjord at Etah and they thus 

 came into close contact with the Polar Eskimos. Regarding 

 these, Hayes like Kane narrates, that they did not hunt the 

 reindeer, as the bow and arrow were unknown to tliem К 



A few years after Hayes' stay among them, liowever, the 

 Polar Eskimos must have learnt not only reindeer-hunting and 

 tlie use of the bow and arrow, but also salmon fishing and 

 the building of kayaks, as well as the methods of hunting from 

 the kayaks ; this learning they received from a tribe of immi- 

 grants from the American side of Smith Sound. About half a 

 century later Knud Rasmussen^ obtained the story of this 

 immigration from two Polar Eskimos, namely, from Merkrusàrk, 

 who was born on the American side , and from Panigpak, 

 whose father Itsukusuk was son of Kridlarssuark (i. e. the great 

 Kridlak), who was leader of the immigrants. 



Tliese seem to have numbered in all ca. 14 persons; but 

 after some years — Merkrusàrk said 6 — the old Kridlarssuark 

 had the desire to return to his own country and again left the 

 Polar Eskimos along with his relatives, with exception of his 

 own son Itsukusuk and his family. During the journey, how- 

 ever, most of the party succumbed to hunger; some of them 

 committed cannibalism and only a few survived, to return 5 

 years later to the Polar Eskimos; amongst these was Merkrusàrk. 



For various reasons 1 am able to say, that this immigra- 

 tion took place in the beginning or the middle of the sixties. 

 When С F. Hall's expedition "Polaris" lay at Life-lJoat Cove in 

 the neighbourhood of Etah during the winter of 1872—73, 

 Captain Budington happened to notice a tattooed woman and 



' Isaac I. Hayes: The Open Polar Sea. London 1867, p. 272. 



'-' Knud Rasmussen: Nye Mennesker. København 1906, pp. 21— 35. 



