Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 343 



From the beginning of the 18th century until recent years we 

 thus have a series of reports, that the eastlanders right up to Am- 

 massalik have felt the necessity of obtaining certain European 

 manufactures, especially of iron, and for this reason have had trad- 

 ing connections with the west coast, indirectly or directly. The 

 European articles have had a magic attraction for them in ever in- 

 creasing degree. At the same time or even previously the conditions, 

 at any rate on certain parts of the east coast, have probably become 

 harder and more severe owing to the decrease in the numbers of 

 the large seals and whales. Graah mentioned already, that "accord- 

 ing to all reports the coast in earlier times has had a considerably 

 larger population" ^). These causes have led to an emigration to the 

 southern part of the west coast, and the East Greenlanders' desire 

 to emigrate was strengthened by the fact, that the immigrants were 

 soon baptised by the European missionaries whom they looked 

 upon as the angakut of the Christians. For the heathens regarded 

 baptism as equivalent to incorporation in the European community. 

 In the year Graah visited East Greenland he estimated, that 120 out 

 of the population of 600 had left this coast and settled at Frederiks- 

 dal and Nanortalik to be baptised. (See p. 184). 



Holm's expedition and discovery of Ammassalik led to the found- 

 ing of a Danish trading and missionary station there in 1894. The 

 founding of this colony at Ammassalik has probably concentrated 

 the inhabitants in the districts north and south of this place and 

 several times helped them over difficult periods of want and hunger 

 without loss of human life. Nearly the whole population have now 

 been baptised and have adapted themselves to the use of the 

 European articles the store contains. 



South of this district the whole of the east coast from 64° to 

 60° is now uninhabited, the last southerners migrating in the year 

 1900 over to the west coast ^). 



Traditions of settlements further north. — What do the 

 existing Ammassalik Eskimo know of the journeys of their fore- 

 fathers towards the north? Their тетог}"^ of these things does not 

 seem to extend further back than to the journeys of the last genera- 

 tion or two. The reports that go further back are lost in the haze 

 of tale and history, but nevertheless point to far off regions and to 

 meetings with other Eskimo, without doubt the last of those, whose 

 house ruins we find further north on the same coast. 



1) Graah (1832) p. 118. 

 '') Meldorf (1902) p. 23. 



