458 THE CENTRAL ESKIMO. 



expedition. Since that period the more iiDitlicrii parts of Boothia 

 may have been abandoned by the natives. i Ik ni-h no certain proof of 

 this can be offered. Netchillik itself and tlic more southern parts 

 ■were visited up to 1869, and probably they are yet inhabited by the 

 Eskimo. This cannot be said with positiveness, however, for this 

 part of the country has not been visited since the times of Ross and 

 M'Clintock. Tlie migration of the natives was caused, without doul)t 

 and as we have already remarked, by the profusion of metals and 

 wood obtained from the wrecks and the starved traveling parties. 



The Ugjulirmiut. — Several important facts regarding the Ugju- 

 lirmiut are mentioned above. Dease and Simpson found their first 

 traces on the western shore of Adelaide Peninsula. From Ross's 

 account (I. p. 427) it apjjears that their territory was the same at that 

 period as it is now, and M'Clintock's meeting with them on the shore 

 of King William Land may be adduced as a proof of this. Their old 

 country is now inhabited by both Ugjulirmiut and Netchillirmiut. 

 Therefore their mode of life is identical and requires no comment. 

 Visits to the northern jDarts of King William Land have been very 

 rare, but it was on one of these that Franklin's ships were discov- 

 ered (Klutschak). They rarely went hunting beyond Cape Herschel, 

 but looked for driftwood on the northern shore of the island. 



The UkusiJcsalirmiid. — The last tribe of the Central Eskimo, the 

 Ukusiksalirmiut, inhabit the estuary of Back River. They were 

 met by Back and by Anderson and Stewart. Recently Schwatka and 

 his party communicated with them on their visit to King William 

 Land. Klutschak affirms that they are the remains of a strong tribe 

 which formerly inhabited Adelaide Peninsula but was supplanted by 

 the Netchillirmiut and the Ugjulirmiut. Klutschak calls them Uku- 

 siksalik; Gilder, sometimes Ukusiksalik, sometimes Ugjulik. The 

 latter author relates that a single family living on Hayes River 

 (Kiignuaq) had formerly had its station on Adelaide Peninsula, but 

 had retired to this country when the warlike Netchillirmiut began to 

 visit King William Land and Adelaide Peninsula. Schwatka could 

 identify the same man with one of those whom Back had seen in the 

 estiiary of the river in 1833 (Gilder, p. 78). Therefore they must 

 have lived in this district a long time before the Netchillirmiut began 

 to move westward. According to Back the party with which he fell 

 in did not know the land beyond the estuary of Back River, which 

 indicates that they wcrr nritlier from Ugjulik nor Netchillik. As 

 the Ugjulirmiut livi d ,.ii Aili'laide Peninsula when Ross wintered in 

 Boothia, I do not cf)nsi(l('i- it proliable tliat tlie Ukusiksalirmiut ever 

 lived in that part of the country, and I cannot agree with Klutschak. 

 I may add Parry's remark, that beyond Ukusiksalik (Wager River) 

 another Ukusiksalik (Back River) was known to the natives of Winter 

 Island. 



