Ethnological Sketch of the Angmagsalik Eskimo. 21 



provides very favourable conditions for sledging and hunting on the 

 smooth fjord ice; if, on the other hand, it is pressed right up into 

 the fjords and freezes fast there, it puts an end to all hunting and 

 brings famine in its train. 



When there is no Storis out at sea, the breakers are so strong 

 that only the more protected waters are covered with ice. Strong 

 cross currents nearly always keep holes in the ice open both 

 at the mouths of the fjords and in the inner channels between the 

 islands, and this, too, even w^hen the ice lies packed right up to the 

 horizon, and severe cold and calm weather prevails. Even in the 

 more protected waters, in places where strong cross currents occur, 

 the ice in spring melts away ver}^ quickly, so that there are large 

 openings far away up the fjords while the outer part of the 

 fjord is still frozen over. 



The difference between high water and low water is at the 

 time of spring tide IOV2 feet, at neap tide 4 feet. 



The sea is everything to the people of Angmagsalik; for the 

 animals which live in it supply the people with food, clothes, light, 

 warmth etc. The polar current which goes south along the coast 

 carries drift-wood, wrecks etc. with it in towards the coast. The 

 wood most frequently met with is fir. The trunks will sometimes 

 be found to be whole trees which have been torn up by the roots, 

 sometimes to be hewn timber; and it is no rare thing to see drift 

 timber with a length of 20 feet and a diameter of 1 foot. Debris 

 from wrecks, boats, and casks often come drifting ashore, and this 

 is the source of a great part of the metal objects of the natives. 

 Thus, for instance, 40 years ago a deserted ship has actually drifted 

 past, and two kaiak loads of iron were obtained from it. Similarly 

 from the wreck of a boat which was washed ashore in the autumn 

 of 1883, there was obtained a number of small pieces of iron as 

 well as a large brass mounting, which has now been divided into 

 a number of pieces to furnish mountings for hunting implements. 

 Besides wreckage, under which head we may reckon oars, hooks, 

 a heavy piece of timber with an iron bolt, and a pickles jar, — two 

 Norwegian glass-floats, a cocoa-nut, and a bamboo cane have been 

 found during the last few years. 



The drift-ice frequently carries along with it stones of different 

 kinds from those which occur in the country, and in former times 

 such stones were used for cutting and scraping implements. The 

 natives still use a red clay-stone, which is pulverised and mixed 

 with water, and is then rubbed into wood in order to dye it. 

 Pumice-stone, which the sea also carries with it, is used for prepa- 

 ring skins. 



