The River of Ocean — ^Primitive : 85 



to people who have been brought up entirely in our large centers of 

 population. Their eyes will be accustomed to tall skyscrapers and to 

 ships of enormous tonnage and horsepower. They will probably 

 view with suspicion the belief that very early and simple vessels could 

 undertake any voyages at sea. On the other hand, those who have 

 some experience with societies that are removed in space and in tech- 

 nology from our own will have a much better understanding of the 

 accomplishments of our ancient ancestors of the late Stone Age and 

 early Metal Age. The following facts have a direct bearing on what 

 probably took place four or five millennia ago. 



The Eskimo people, both in their western limits in Alaska and in 

 their eastern limits in Greenland, at the time of their first contact 

 with western civilization could be described as being in a Stone Age 

 of culture. Modern anthropologists are properly reluctant to use 

 general classifications such as Stone Age as applied to a particular peo- 

 ple. This is understandable since the Ages as represented in the his- 

 tory of any particular people may have occurred at quite different 

 times and really represented quite different stages of development. 

 Still, here we use the expression to mean that until their contact with 

 European society, the Eskimo people were apparently quite devoid 

 of any knowledge of the use of metals. 



Still they built extremely strong and seaworthy boats and took 

 them on long voyages in some of the coldest and most stormy waters 

 to be found anywhere. Two distinct forms of Eskimo ship were em- 

 ployed and each served a different purpose — the kayak was the small, 

 lightweight, decked-in canoe used by the men in hunting for seals, 

 fishing and so forth. The other form of boat is the umiak. This is a 

 relatively large boat consisting of a framework made of wooden poles 

 and bent and shaped ribs and other shorter pieces of timber. Over 

 this framework is stretched a skin or shell; this shell is built up of the 

 dressed skins of many animals sewn together with waterproof seams. 

 Considered as a whole, the umiak has pointed ends, relatively straight 

 sides and a relatively flat bottom. It is Ught in relationship to its 

 capacity and extremely buoyant. While both forms of Eskimo boat 

 are capable of lengthy passages in open sea and also in waters cov- 

 ered with drifting ice, the umiak particularly is noted for its capacity 

 to carry heavy loads through high winds and large seas. It is primarily 

 intended for the carrying of freight and a large number of passen- 

 gers too. While the form and size of the ancient Irish curragh is not 

 exactly known, it apparently had certain affinities with the Eskimo 

 umiak. It is known that the Irish monks of the Middle Ages and other 



