ORIGIN OF STEFANSSON'S BLOND ESKIMO 



1229 



plexion, though some of them are quite 

 liandsome and ivhite." 



We are able, however, to go still far- 

 ther back to a time when Greenland was 

 yet free from modern European contact. 

 Mr. David McRitchie has published an 

 account of a voyage in which a Flushing 

 captain, Nicholas Tunes, claimed to have 

 reached in the summer of 1656 latitude 

 72° N., in Davis straits. In the original 

 French of de Poincy he quotes Tunes as 

 saying: "In regard to the inhabitants (of 

 Greenland) we saw two kinds, who lived 

 together on the most friendly terms. Of 

 these one kind is very tall, well built, 

 rather fair complexion, and very swift 

 of foot. The others were very much 

 smaller, of olive complexion, and toler- 

 ably well proportioned, except that their 

 legs are short and thick. The former 

 kind delight in hunting, for which they 

 are suited by their agility and natural 

 disposition, whereas the latter occupy 

 themselves in fishing." 



BIvOND ESKIMO SEEN BY PARRY 



Of the natives seen by Sir Edward 

 Parry on the shores of Lyon Inlet in 

 1821 he writes: "We could scarcely be- 

 lieve them to be Eskimo. There was a 

 degree of lankness in their faces. Their 

 countenances impressed me with the idea 

 of Indian rather than of Eskimo fea- 

 tures ; but this variety of physiognomy 

 we afterward found to be not uncom- 

 mon with these people. . . . Two men 

 and three women (of one group) had 

 good Roman noses. . . . Several chil- 

 dren had complexions nearly as fair as 

 Europeans. It may be added that the 

 portraits of a few of these people in no 

 way resemble Eskimo. . . . The peo- 

 ple had never seen Indians." 



Of the same tribes Dr. Alexander 

 Fisher, surgeon of Parry's expedition 

 and a keen observer, records in an un- 

 published journal as follows: "In mak- 

 ing a few remarks on the people them- 

 selves, I must observe that although the 

 major part of them displayed in great 

 perfection the genuine Eskimo features, 

 form, and other characteristics of these 

 people, yet there are some who differ so 

 materially in this respect that the most 

 superficial observer could not help notic- 

 ine it." 



Speaking of the tallest Eskimo, 5 feet 

 9^ inches, he continues : "I think that 

 the tallest men and women are of an 

 Indian or mixed extraction." In describ- 

 ing the hybrids he adds: "In the first 

 place, the most striking difference is that 

 of the countenance, which is long and 

 narrow. The nose is large and of that 

 shape which is called Roman. In their 

 persons, also, the mixed race are some- 

 what taller, better made, and less in- 

 clined to corpulency. Several other dis- 

 tinctions might be pointed out, but I 

 think those already mentioned suffi- 

 ciently show that those in question are 

 not of the genuine Eskimo stock. It may 

 be added that these people had never 

 seen either Indians or Europeans." 



Capt. G. F. Lyon, Royal Navy, in his 

 attempt to reach Repulse Bay in 1824, 

 fell in with a group of Eskimo near Cape 

 Pembroke, Southampton Island. These 

 natives had never seen Europeans, and 

 of them he records : "The face of the 

 woman was as perfect an oval as that of 

 an European girl, with regular and even 

 pretty features. Her mother was with 

 her and had the same cast of counte- 

 nance. The other women had the usual 

 broad, flat faces and high cheek bones." 



Capt. John Ross, Royal Navy, in his 

 voyage to Boothia Isthmus, 1829-1833, 

 saw many natives. He states that "the 

 features of an elderly man, which were 

 preserved by a portrait, diff'er consider- 

 ably from the general character as if he 

 had belonged to a different tribe. An- 

 other native from west Boothia had In- 

 dian rather than Eskimo features, though 

 the tribe had never seen Indians." 



Capt. G. Back, Royal Navy, in his 

 journey to Back River in 1833 mentions 

 an Eskimo who "could not have ma- 

 tured a more luxuriant beard," which, 

 he adds, "yielded the palm only to that 

 of Master George Killingworth, which 

 was not only thick, broad, and yellow 

 colored, but in length 5 feet 2 inches in 

 size." Presumably from Back's refer- 

 ence the Eskimo's beard was brown in 

 color. 



ESKIMO SEEN BY ERANKLIN 



Sir John Franklin, in his journey to 

 the Polar Sea in 1821, met a single Es- 

 kimo near the mouth of the Coppermine. 



