Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 337 



matter as follows: they would rather save their dogs owing to their 

 greater usefulness Ihan a useless person. I imagine, that these 

 necessitous times have first come upon the east coast in the 18th 

 century, after the hunting of the Europeans after whales and large 

 species of seals in the waters of Spitzbergen had led to a great 

 diminution of these marine animals in the sea along the east coast 

 of Greenland. Extreme need has sometimes driven the natives to 

 adopt a course similar to those dreadful instances, even known 

 among civilized nations, of men devouring one another, when 

 rendered desperate bj»^ the sufferings of starvation. Rumours of these 

 tragic occurrences have among the West Greenlanders become mixed 

 up with their tales of "the inland dwellers" (the American Indians), 

 who were believed to live especially on the eastcoast and were said 

 to make sudden attacks on the Eskimo and kill them in their 

 houses^). 



From a merchant in South Greenland Cranz learnt some further 

 details regarding the East Greenlanders, which contained new and 

 interesting information. After referring first of all to the "Eis- 

 Schlund'' (the ice barrier) which lies some way up the coast (about 

 200 miles northwards, probably the glacier known later as Puisortoq) 

 — it is stated, that the natives, who live south of this spot, journey 

 each year down to Onartok ("the warm source") on the west coast 

 to fish for the caplins (am massät) there. Many natives live both 

 south and north of this spot. In the years 1751, 1756, 1758, 1760 

 and 1761 natives from the districts north of the "ice-barrier" came 

 down to trade with the Greenlanders furthest south. The last- 

 mentioned arrived at the end of July after a three months' journey 

 with two umiaks and many kaiaks, and after making their purchases 

 they went away again in a few days. They are called northlanders 

 in contrast to those south of the "ice-barrier" who are southlanders. 

 They are described as "a simple, timid people with but weak morals". 

 They are big and strong of limb, have black hair and no beard (!), 

 their manner of speaking the Greenland language "recalls the dialect 

 of Disko Bugt". In their clothing they have different modes from 

 the southlanders: "For example, I obtained from the Greenlander, 

 who told me this, a gutskin cloth, which he had bought from them 

 and which in front and behind was provided with a still longer 

 flap than the women's clothes here have, and was covered with 

 many ornaments, but roughly". "They dwell on the islands and 



Ч I imagine that it is to these fabulous inland dwellers {Erqitlit), that a second 

 report in Cranz (1770, pp. 344 — 345) refers. — The merchant from whom he 

 obtained the next report mentioned, is identified by Schultz-Lorentzen (1904, 

 p. 324) as Lars Dalager. 



XXXIX. 22 



