PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THK PEOPLE. 33 



THE PEOPLE. 

 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



Ill stature these people are of a medium height, robust and muscular, 

 &quot;inclining rather to spareness than corpulence,&quot; 2 though tlie fullness 

 of the face and the thick fur clothing often gives the impression of 

 the latter. There is, however, considerable individual variation among 

 them in this respect. The women are as a rule shorter than the men, 

 occasionally almost dwarfish, though some women are taller than many 

 of the men. The tallest man observed measured 5 feet !&amp;gt; inches, and 

 the shortest 4 feet 1 1 inches. The tallest woman was 5 feet 3 inches in 

 height, and the shortest 4 feet i inch. The, heaviest man weighed 204 

 pounds and the lightest 12(5 pounds. One woman weighed 192 pounds 

 and the shortest woman was also the lightest, weighing only 100 pounds. 3 

 The hands and feet are small and well shaped, though the former soon 

 become distorted and roughened by work. We did not observe the 

 peculiar breadth of hands noticed by Dr. Simpson, nor is the shortness 

 of the thumb which he mentions sufficient to attract attention. 4 Their 

 feet are so small that only one of our party, who is much below the 

 ordinary size, was able to wear the boots made by the natives for them 

 selves. Small and delicate hands and feet appear to be a universal 

 characteristic of the Eskimo race and have been mentioned by most 

 observers from Greenland to Alaska. 5 



The features of these people have been described by Dr. Simpson, 6 

 and are distinctively Eskimo in type, as will be seen by comparing 

 the accompanying portraits (Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, from photographs by 

 Lieut. Kay) with the many pictures brought from the eastern Arctic 



Op. cit., p. 264. 



Simpson, op. cit., p. 238. 



See Report of Point Barrow Expedition, p. 50, for a tnlile of measurements of n number of indi 

 viduals selected at random from the natives of both villages and tlieir visitors. 



Op. cit., p. 238. 



Davis (1586) speaks of the &quot;small, slender hands and feet&quot; of the Grcenlanders. Uakluyt s Voya 

 ges, etc. (1589), ]&amp;gt;. 782. 



&quot;Their hands anil feet are little and soft.&quot; Crantz, vol. 1, p. 133 (Greenland). 



Hands and feet &quot;extremely diminutive,&quot; Parry 1st Voy., p. 282 (Baflin Land). 



&quot;Their hands and feet art- small and well formed.&quot; Kunilien Contrib., p. 15 (Cumberland Gulf). 



&quot;Feet extraordinarily small.&quot; Ellis, Voyage, etc., p. 132 (Hudson Strait). 



Franklin (1st Exp., vol. 2, p. 180) mentions the small hands and feet of the two old Eskimo that ho 

 met at the Bloody Fall of the Coppermine River. 



&quot;... boots purchased on the coast were seldom large enough for our people.&quot; Richardson 

 Searching Exp., i, p. 344 (Cape Bathurst). 



&quot;Their hands and feet are small.&quot; Petroff, Report, et., p. 134 (Kuskoquim River). 



Chappell (Hudson Bay, pp. 59, 60) has a remarkable theory to account for the smallui ss of the 

 extremities among the people of Hudson Strait. He believes that &quot;the same intense cold which 

 restricts vegetation to the form of creeping shrubs has also its effect upon the growth of mankind, 

 preventing the extremities from attaining their due proportion&quot; ! 



Op. cit., p. 238. 



ETH 3 



