X 



GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



gone down to the sea to hunt every spring ; thus we find them as neighbours 

 to Greenland. Before we had a thorough knowledge of Greenland's north 

 coast, it seemed convenient to let these people continue from the tent-rings by 

 Thank God Harbour further north along the coast, and thus arose the idea of 

 the invasion of the east coast via the north of the country. In the following 

 we will refute this opinion, and show that such could not have been the case. 

 For the Grantlanders, stopped by natural conditions, have either gone south- 

 ward on the ocean to Inglefield Land, which could easily be reached in the 

 course of a couple of months in the spring, even if we allow for a family 

 removal ; or they have gone behind the lands down to the route which their 

 kindred found across Ellesmere Land. 



II 



When we went to the great fjords on the north coast on the second Thule 

 Expedition it was natural that we should harbour great ethnographical expecta- 

 tions with regard to these tracts, as the possibility of a previous habitation and 

 a folk-wandering connected with it could only be decided by an examination 

 of these regions. The majority of explorers presupposed an earlier habitation. 

 Nearly all theories inclined to the view that the migration into Greenland has 

 taken place not merely from Ellesmere Land via Cape Inglefield, both south- 

 ward and northward, but also that a wandering has taken place north of 

 Greenland to the east coast, and that this invasion has received its main 

 contingent from those who came down to the coasts by the route Greely Fjord 

 to Lake Hazen. 



Without special knowledge of Greenland's north coast, it seemed natural 

 *to draw these conclusions, because Eskimo tent-rings had been found as high 

 up on the east coast as the north side of Independence Fjord, both by the 

 Danmark Expedition and by the first Thule Expedition. Winter-houses on 

 the east side were found as far up as Sophus Miiller Point, and now the 

 problem was to find the connection with these by winter-houses or at least by 

 traces of a wandering along the north coast. 



It will be remembered from the travelling description that, although we 

 followed the coast, everywhere hugging the land, and even occasionally went 

 right up on the ice-foot, we did not succeed in finding the faintest trace of a 

 previous habitation, this despite the fact that we and our four Greenlanders 

 incessantly had our attention directed to this problem. Even in Sherard 

 Osborne Fjord and Victoria Fjord nothing was found, however often we 

 traversed on our hunting excursions, both on the upward and the downward 

 journey, all the land which was accessible. Even a place like the Whirlpool 

 in I. P. Koch Fjord, a natural sealing centre, had never been visited until we 

 discovered it. 



As a result of my experiences from this expedition I must insist that no 

 Eskimo wandering can have taken place north of Greenland, and I will attempt 

 to advance my arguments on this point. 



During a folk-wandering where women and children are included the wan- 

 derers would never voluntarily go into quite trackless districts. The pressure- 

 ice from Polaris Promontory to Sherard Osborne Fjord would constitute quite a 

 considerable obstacle for the transport of a family and household goods ; and 

 we must of necessity take into account the primitive travelling gear which was 

 used. The sledges were made entirely from whale rib or from pieces of wood 

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