402 Thomas Thomsen. 



rica, and which he took to be idols; it is probable, however, that 

 they were not considered on that coast as more or less than 

 in Greenland, where such dolls are only playthings for 

 children" 1 . 



This method of quoting — and we have previously encountered 

 some instances of the same thing in the foregoing — renders the book 

 somewhat difficult to read with advantage, as it involves the necessity 

 of having the sources quoted at hand, which, in the case of unpublished 

 works, is for readers abroad an impossibility. 



It is not unusual, when at a loss for an explanation, to have recourse 

 to the religious idea; the Author has, however (p. 647) here employed 

 this expedient in such a manner as to preclude all reasonable discussion. 

 "Fig. 368a is a fairly large doll evidently representing a woman in the 

 sitting position without hair top, arms and nose but with nostrils and 

 inlaid eyes in the orbits; the mouth is distended like the mouth of a 

 person playing uaajeertoq and dark with blood. The doll probably 

 represents some supernatural being and must be considered as male". 



Something more in the way of explanation might well have been 

 vouchsafed this remarkable figure. The next one, on the other hand, 

 a perfectly new jointed doll (Fig. 368b) receives an unmerited share 

 of attention. On p. 647 we read: "Is this doll possibly a variety of East 

 Greenland origin? Among the Eskimo living outside Greenland this 

 kind of doll has not been found so far as I know". The last sentence 

 is however, not to be taken as disposing of the question raised, for in 

 a note on p. 681 we find the subject taken up for discussion anew, in 

 the Addenda, included between the descriptive portion and the results. 

 We read here: "Wooden dolls with pliable joints in arms and legs have 

 been mentioned from the Chukchee and Koryaks in north-eastern 

 Asia. There is reason consequently to believe that the same kind 

 of dolls found among the Ammassalikers is an Eskimo product of old 

 origin". 



I cannot concur in this view, but should nevertheless be loth to 

 devote further space to the subject were it not that Mr. Thalbitzer 

 himself attaches so great importance to it: "This — like many other 

 facts of a similar kind mentioned by me — shows how cautious we must 

 be in considering the apparently surprising agreement with modern 

 objects from our own shops as due to ,European influence' 2 . We have 

 probably here another proof that the Ammassalikers like all other East 

 Greenlanders have stuck tenaciously in their isolation to certain old 

 forms of implements, cult and luxury long after the same things have 



1 Spaced type by Thomas Thomsen. 



2 The words "European influence" are set in inverted commas by Mr. Thal- 

 bitzer himself, presumably indicating his extreme contempt for such 



