406 Thomas Thomsen. 



used, albeit Hawaii lies some 45° farther south and 100° to the west, 

 no intermediate station being named. 



The Author makes frequent use of comparative methods. An in- 

 stance of this we have already seen in the case of the dolls 1 , and another 

 is furnished by the Editor's treatment of the umiak cleaner 2 . The 

 object in question is an implement some 30 cm. long, consisting of a 

 bear's claw fixed to a haft; we know for a certainty that it is used for 

 cleaning umiaks 3 , and that is all we do know. Nevertheless the following 

 remarks are added: "It is not improbable, that this instrument is useful 

 in certain cases for more than simply cleaning the boat. Turner mentions 

 "boat-hooks" as belonging to the complete outfit of a kayak among the 

 Eskimo of Hudson Bay, used for all purposes of a boat hook and also 

 to retrieve a sunken animal' (seal). It is possible that the Ammassalikers' 

 umiak cleaner is a transformed relict of this instrument". 



There does not seem, on the face of it, to be any very great pro- 

 bability that this little tool, used for cleaning, and belonging 

 to the umiak, should be a relict of a boat hook appertaining to 

 the kayak. And Turnek's description does not incline one the more 

 towards Mr. Thalbitzer's opinion. 



Turner begins by stating the length as about 8 feet, whereupon 

 he describes the implement as follows: "The lower end of this has a 

 strong hook made of stout iron set into it. Along the inner edge 

 of the wooden shaft two or three notches are cut. The end near 

 the person has a V-shaped notch cut into it .... A weight is attached 

 to near the hook end to keep the shaft perpendicular in the water. A 

 line of sufficient length is attached to it". 



Clearly, the implement has in process of transformation, apart from 

 shrinking to an eight of its former size, and being relegated from the 

 kayak to the umiak, lost not a few of its originally characteristic fea- 

 tures. A series of intermediate stages, showing the transition, not only 

 in form, but also in purpose, would not be out of place. 



True, Mr. Thalbitzer here expresses himself but cautiously; "it is 

 possible" "it is not improbable", yet the manner in which the term "boat 

 hooks" is placed as an alternative designation at the outset — ■ the heading 

 runs: "Umiak cleaners (p. 43, cf. fig. 83) — or boat-hooks?" — gives the 

 effect of something more than a casual suggestion, and the Author's 

 belief in his hypothesis increases as the work goes on; thus on p. 728 

 we find, among the implements or forms of same peculiar to Angmag- 



1 vide supra pp. 402—403. 



2 Thalb. II, p. 380, fig. 83. The reader will doubtless not be surprised to 

 learn that not both of the umiak cleaners shown in fig. 83 belong to 

 the Holm collection. 83a was brought over by Mr. Thalbitzer him- 

 self in 1906. 



3 Holm (Medd. om Grønland, vol. 10). PI. XXVI, fig. b; cf. the text. 



