65 



taken by this tribe each year, even when other game is plenti- 

 ful, but it must be enormous. Still the birds do not appear 

 to be on the decrease, for the outer edges of the rookery have 

 a new appearance that leads me to believe the breeding area 

 is being extended. A few years ago an epidemic caused the 

 death of a large percentage of the Eskimos and as the food 

 demand was consequently less, the extension of the rookery 

 may have resulted. This, of course, is merely a conjecture, 

 but it seems plausible. 



From an economic standpoint the birds of this cheerless 

 Arctic region are in the superlative degree a necessity to the 

 Eskimo, and without them they would long since have 

 perished by famine. That the natives can never exterminate 

 the birds seems assured, for the greater portion of them are 

 inaccessible ; and if the great herds of Seals and Walruses 

 become extinct, and even the natives themselves cease to 

 exist, the birds will probably still continue to rear their young 

 among these desolate and rocky surroundings. 



