Ethnological Sketch of the Aiigmagsalik Eskimo. 105 



VI. 



ASTRONOMY AND MYTHOLOGY. - WOODEN MAPS. - 

 GEOGRAPHICAL CONCEPTIONS. — THE FAR NORTH. — 

 MYTHICAL COUNTRIES. — NUMERAL SYSTEM. - INTELLEC- 

 TUAL POWER. - ART AND ORNAMENTS. - TALES. — SONGS. 



JUSTICE. - GAMES. 



Astronomy and mythology. — The East Greenlanders divide the 

 year according to the new moons; they take as their starting-point 

 the first new-moon which occurs after Asit, i.e. the star « aqiiilae (Atair), 

 has been seen for the first time in the morning twilight. In former 

 times their starting-point was the first new-moon after the shortest 

 day, and as in certain places they still keep up the old mode of 

 reckoning, there is some uncertainty with regard to the number of 

 the months. The months are named solely according to their 

 number after the first new-moon ^). 



The Angmagsaliks are not only able to tell by the position of 

 the sun when the shortest day has arrived, but they also can fore- 

 tell its arrival with precision, when they have seen Asifs position 

 in the morning twilight. 



Adlagdlak told Hanserak on the 19*^^ December that the sun would 

 be at its lowest point two days after, but Hanserak replied that 

 this would happen before that, viz., on the very next day. He had 

 seen in the Icelandic almanach that it was the longest day on the 

 20* June, and he concluded from this that it must be the shortest 

 day on the 20*^^ December. The native however stuck to his opinion. 



It was formerly the custom on the shortest day that a skin was 

 taken into the house, prepared, and sewn into a dress for the eldest 

 child, who was to wear it on that day. On this day also a festival 

 with entertainments, drum-dancing and other amusements was held. 



The Sun. — Two myths are current to explain why the sun 

 at midnight on the shortest day does not descend lower than to 

 the sea. According to the one myth, this happens because its hinder 

 parts are cut with sharp instruments, and it is therefore so worn 



^) Division by weeks is of course unknown. Hanserak made an almanach of 

 the kind used on the West coast, i. e. made of wood and having seven holes 

 in which a peg is placed for every daj' in the week. We gave this almanach 

 to Ilinguaki, in order that during the winter, when he lived far from us, he 

 might be able to know when it was our Sunda\'. When we came to Ilinguaki 

 next year, we found that he had been using it constantly (fig. 392). 



