382 Thomas Thomsen. 



there, who recognised the things as having belonged to a party which 

 had set out to the northward in 1882, and had never returned 1 . 



These three collections together serve to illustrate the culture of 

 Angmagsalik at about the time of its discovery. 



In 1894, a new stage in the development of the place was reached, 

 a Danish trading station and mission settlement being then established 

 there. Since that time, the trading interest has been superintended by 

 one man, Kolonibestyrer Johan Petersen, who had himself been one 

 of the members of the Holm expedition. Keenly interested in ethno- 

 graphical work, Hr. Johan Petersen has repeatedly rendered valuable 

 service to the National Museum, not only by procuring specified objects 

 which it was desirable to acquire, but also by personally tendering in- 

 dependent contributions. The Mission authorities also took an interest 

 in the work, and both Pastor С Rüttel and his successor, Kr. Rosing, 

 have furnished material of great value, and hardly obtainable from 

 other quarters, such as for instance the collection of amulets given up 

 by newly baptised Eskimos; Pastor Rosing's collection of these is 

 particularly valuable, on account of the detailed information with which 

 it is supplemented. 



Finally, a small collection, the result of a winter's stay in 1905 — 06, 

 was furnished by Cand. W. Thalbitzer. 



In this series of collections, together with such minor additions as 

 have been made from time to time, the National Museum possesses 

 a remarkably complete equipment illustrative of the material culture 

 of Angmagsalik from the time of its discovery in 1884 to the present 

 day; the finds relative to older times, however, are very few. 



Since the publication of Holm's work, no scientific treatise dealing 

 with this extensive collection has appeared. The task was one of con- 

 siderable magnitude, and the announcement of a forthcoming volume 

 on the subject, the cost of which was to be defrayed by the Carlsberg 

 Fund, naturally aroused no little interest. The first portion of this work 

 has now appeared, forming Vol. 39 of Meddelelser om Grønland 2 , an 

 imposing volume, of no less than 755 pages, with illustrations amoun- 

 ting to 398 separate figures, the number of objects depicted being con- 

 siderable more. 



The work is thus abundantly illustrated; on perusal, however, it 

 is at once evident that both the illustrations and the accompanying 

 text stand strongly in need of some explanatory supplement or guide. 

 The task of furnishing this last devolves, naturally enough, upon the 

 National Museum, being a matter of plain duty towards the gentlemen 



1 Meddelelser om Grønland vol. 28, p. 310. 



2 The Ammassalik Eskimo. Contributions to the Ethnology of the East 

 Greenland. Edited by William Thalbitzer. First Part. (This work is 

 quoted in the following pages as Thalb. II.) 



