360 MR. R. BROWN ON THE MAMMALS OF GREENLAND. [May 28, 



no place in the Greenland fauna, and that the Kappik* and Amarok 

 must be regarded as synonyms of Cards familiaris, var. borealis, 

 tinctured with a deep hue of fable. Murray portrays the distri- 

 bution of the glutton (Gulo borealis) on both the east and west 

 coasts of Greenland up to nearly 67° N. lat.f ; but if I am right in 

 excluding this animal from the Greenland fauna, this distribution is 

 erroneous. 



Here I may remark, what must by this time be self-evident to 

 you, that the Greenlanders cannot be relied upon (independently of 

 the principle in the abstract) for the names of animals. They are 

 not the excellent cetologists we have always been led to suppose, 

 confounding as they do several animals under one name, as I shall 

 have occasion to notice at a future time when discussing the errors 

 which Fabricius was led into by trusting too much to their nomen- 

 clature, and which to this time have entangled the history of the 

 northern Cetacea in an almost pathless maze. Fabricius has noti- 

 fied in his Fauna many species of supposed Seals &c. under various 

 Eskimo names, but which he was unable to decipher ;{:. Hr. Fleischer, 

 Colonibestyrer of Jakobshavn, has aided me in resolving these : — 



1. Siguktok, "having a long snout and a body similar to Phoca 

 gronlandica, perhaps P. ursina" This is apparently some Eskimo 

 perversion, if they have been interpreted properly ; for I am assured 

 that it is only the name of the Eider Duck (Somateria mollissimu). 



2. Imab-ukullia, a Seal with a snow-white coat, "the eye present- 

 ing a red iris, probably P. leporina," is a rare albino of the Netsik 

 (Paffomys /oeiidus). The meaning of the word is the Sea-hare. 



3. Atarpiak or atarpek, "the smallest species of Seal, not ex- 

 ceeding the size of the hand, of a whitish colour, and a blackish spot 

 of the form of a half-moon on each side of the body." This descrip- 

 tion does not correspond to the meaning of the word, which is " the 

 Brown Seal." Hr. Fleischer thinks that it is only a myth, as is— 



4. Kongesteriak, which has, " according to the description given 

 by the natives, some resemblance to the Sea-ape described by Mr. 

 Heller"§. This is one of the northern myths. The natives say it 

 is a Bear which is so covered with an ice-coat that it never comes 

 on land, but is always in the water, &c. These myths, both in the 

 pseudo-Mammalia and in other groups, are endless ; but I have given 

 enough to show that no dependence can be placed on their idle su- 

 perstitious tales. 



* Jansen in his ' Elementarbog i Eskimoernes Sprog til brug for Europoerne 

 red Colonierne i Gronland' (Kjobenhavn, 1862), p. 55, translates "Kappik" as 

 " en Graevling.'' 



t Op. cit. Map xxiv. 



\ Vide also Giesecke in his " Greenland,'' in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclo- 

 paedia. This article, which is the only original one, as far as I know, ever 

 writien upon Greenland in the English language, is a most trustworthy account, 

 for the time it was written. The author, however, copies Fabricins in all his 

 errors as well as excellencies. 



§ I suppose Gie^ecke means SteJIer's account of the " Sea-ape," vide Pennant, 

 Q.uadr. ii. p. .Sfll {Trirf/erh"f: hi/dropi//ifcJis. Shaw. Zool. i. p. 247 ; Mirnnfits.vmia, 

 lllig. ; M. ? hydropithmif, Fischer, &c. ). 



