395 



mere Land^ has been made known by Gunnar Isachsen^, who 

 took part in the Fram Expedition under 0. Sverdrup. In agree- 

 ment with F. Boas^ Isachsen considered that the main route 

 went from Ponds inlet over the eastern end of North Devon 

 and from there along the north coast of this island; but I am 

 of the same opinion as H. G. Simmons^, that this route is 

 certainly only used exceptionally. 



In using the word "route" 1 must however remark, that 

 this does not mean a definite, measured line of migration. An 

 Eskimo band in pursuit of the musk-ox will direct its course 

 according to the distribution of the animals and will only be 

 tempted to move by richer hunting grounds; but the distribution 

 of the islands and their position in the Polar Archipelago is of 

 such a nature, that the main result of the migrations is, that 

 the Eskimos tend to go in definite directions. The starting- 

 points will be on the one hand the northern Baffin Land, where 

 for the rest it is the lines of migration of the reindeer, which 

 — in addition to the coastal ice and the voyages with the 

 women's boats — determine the migration routes, and on the 

 other the north-eastern Barren Grounds themselves. And I 

 imagine , that the oldest migratory groups went out from this 

 last-mentioned region and from there followed the east coasts 

 of Boothia Felix and North Somerset, where ruins on the coasts 

 are evidence of earlier visits of the Eskimos. 



With regard to these ruins of houses and other remains of 

 earlier Eskimo settlements reference may be made to W. Thal- 

 bitzer's chart\ where their occurrence is indicated. In agree- 



I use this name to Indicate the whole of the large island lying to the 

 NW. of Greenland. 



G. Isachsen , Die Wanderungen der östlichen Eskimo in und nach 

 Grönland. Petermann's Mitteilungen 1903. 



The central Eskimo. 6th Ann. Rep. of the Bur. of Ethn. Washington 1888. 

 Eskimåernas Utbredning och Vandringsviigor. "Ymer" Stockholm 1905, 

 p. 182. 



A Phonetical Study of the Eskimo Language. Meddelelser om Grönland. 

 Copenhagen 1904. — cf. Boas, üeber die ehemalige Verbreitung der 

 XXXIV. 26 



