286 Messrs Duckworth & Pain, Some Eskimo from Labrador. 



An Account of some Eskimo from Labrador. By W. L. H. 

 Duckwokth, Jesus College, and B. H. Pain, Emmanuel College. 

 (Communicated by W. L. H. Duckworth.) 



[Bead 19 February 1900.] 



In the autumn of 1899, a party of 27 Eskimo were brought 

 from Labrador to this country by an American gentleman, Mr 

 Ralph G. Taber, and were exhibited at Olympia 1 during the latter 

 part of that year and in January 1900. The following account deals 

 with the more important of their physical characteristics and we 

 are much indebted to Mr Taber both for the opportunities he 

 afforded us of making measurements and for his courtesy in 

 answering numerous enquiries about Eskimo-life in Labrador. 

 The measurements were made by means of the following instru- 

 ments : Garson's Anthropometer, Martin's Anthropometer and 

 Callipers, Cunningham's Craniometer (for radial measurements), 

 and the strengths of "pull as archer" and of the grasp of the 

 hands respectively were recorded by means of the instruments 

 in use in the Anthropometric investigations of the Cambridge 

 Philosophical Society. Finally a Phonograph was used to record 

 some Eskimo words. The measurements are recorded in a Table 

 which follows this communication and some of the chief results 

 are reproduced in a diagram which is compared with similar 

 diagrammatic representations of other human races. The latter 

 are taken from an article on Physical Anthropology in a recent 

 number of " Knowledge " written by Professor Arthur Thomson 

 of Oxford, to whom we desire to acknowledge our indebtedness for 

 such comparative material. 



It is convenient to mention here that in making the measure- 

 ments our work was much facilitated by one of the Eskimo women, 

 Esther Enutsiak, who acted as an interpreter; and finally, that 

 owing to the thick and somewhat rigid sealskin garments of our 

 subjects, some of the measurements proved very difficult to 

 obtain with accuracy. 



These Eskimo comprise- members of five families. Their native 

 land is that part of Labrador which is situated in the region of E. 

 long. 64° and N. lat. 58° ; there has been in this neighbourhood 

 for some eighty years a Moravian settlement called Hebron, 

 and the missionaries have certainly influenced the Eskimo in 

 this district very considerably : it may be added that the mis- 

 sionaries are also traders. To judge from the photographs of this 

 part of Labrador, the country is of a desolate and forbidding aspect: 

 moreover communication by land is almost impracticable and 

 trading or fishing vessels are only able to approach Hebron during 

 a very short period in the summer months of the year. We may 

 1 The Exhibition Hall in Kensington, London. 



