24 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



But after we know the origin of both names 

 the one by which they are known to the outside 

 world, and that by which they speak of themselves 

 we wish to know more. Who are the Eskimos ? 

 Where do they live ? Whence did they come ? 



It is easy to ask questions, as every parent of a 

 three-year-old child knows. But it is not always 

 easy to give satisfactory answers. And the first 

 and last of the above questions in particular re- 

 ceive by no means one and the same definite answer 

 from different authorities. It is, of course, im- 

 possible to deal exhaustively with the origin of the 

 Eskimos here. It is altogether beyond the range 

 of this book. 



A few facts, however, may be stated, and a few 

 opinions, worthy of respect, may be quoted, which 

 will, perhaps, be suggestive of a correct view to the 

 mind of the reader who is interested in the subject. 



The extent of the surface of the earth which 

 they inhabit is very wide. Professor W. Boyd 

 Dawkins, F.R.S., says : " The Eskimos occupy 

 the coldest parts of the earth in America and Asia, 

 and their civilization is of a rude and primitive 

 type. To the south of the Eskimos in America is a 

 debatable land belonging neither to them nor to 

 the Red Indians, between which races a feud 

 exists." A stretch of about 3,200 miles of con- 

 tinent from East to West is occupied by these 

 people, who claim to be the aristocracy of God's 

 creation. But though their territory is so vast, the 



