40 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 



and with the exception of a single colony on the 

 south-east coast, the District of Angmagssalik 

 (Map A) A; lat. 66 N.), containing a few hundred 

 people, the inhabitants are now confined to the 

 west coast. The geographical distribution of the 

 Eskimo race is exceptionally wide; it extends in 

 scattered groups from the shores of Behring Strait 

 to Greenland, a distance equal to about half the 

 circumference of the globe. They have wandered 

 as far south as the Straits of Belle Isle (lat. 51 N.) 

 and there are settlements in the Hudson Bay 

 region and on the coast of Labrador. Authorities 

 differ on the problem of the original home of the 

 Eskimoes, but the view that finds most favour seems 

 to be that they came from the interior of Canada 

 in the region north-west of Hudson Bay. Probably 

 Knud Rasmussen's present expedition will throw 

 fresh light on the subject. In a comprehensive 

 and well illustrated work on Eskimo skulls (Crania 

 Groenlandka] by Fiirst and Hansen, published at 

 Copenhagen in 1915, the authors express the 

 opinion that the crania which they examined are 

 not those of a primitive race. Throughout this 

 large area their culture and language show a re- 

 markable homogeneity: there are many dialects 

 and considerable differences between them, but 

 authorities state that the language of the Eskimoes 

 of western Alaska has at least as much in common 

 with that spoken in Greenland as English has 

 with French. It has no close affinity with any other 

 tongue; the Eskimo language is very rich in suffixes, 

 and a single word, which is often of enormous 



