ESKIMOS 133 
the Eskimos capturing seven and killing thirteen; the captives 
were sent south to the land of the Iroquois in what is now New 
York State. 
In 1770-72, Samuel Hearne accompanied a band of Chippew- 
yan Indians on a journey from Churchill to the mouth of the 
Coppermine river. These Indians were only induced to go to 
the Arctic coast on the chance of killing Eskimos. This they 
did, by surprising a band busily engaged in fishing at the first 
fall above the mouth of the river, massacring them all. 
This warfare appears to have continued until the Eskimos 
obtained firearms, when, the conditions becoming equal, the 
Indians soon found that the pleasure of the Eskimo chase did 
not compensate for the danger incurred, and, for many years 
past, active hostilities have ceased, though the two races are still 
unfriendly, and rarely, or never, intermarry. 
Scattered over such a wide area of country, with such poor 
means of communication, it naturally follows that the Eskimo 
race is broken up into a number of tribes, distinguished by dif- 
ference in dialect, and by slight differences in manners and 
customs. But these are so surprisingly few, considering the 
conditions, that an Eskimo from the Atlantic coast has no diffi- 
culty in conversing with the natives of the west coast of Hudson 
bay, or with those of Greenland. Their religious beliefs and 
ceremonies are also wonderfully alike everywhere, and only 
minor differences are to be seen in their sleds, boats, tents and 
implements of the chase, these being largely due to the materials 
used. In fact so close are the essential resemblances that a 
description of the language, manners and customs of any tribe 
requires only slight modifications to suit those of the other 
tribes. 
DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBERS OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS. 
Dr. Franz Boas, who has devoted much attention to the study 
of the Eskimos, has named those of the eastern half of the con- 
