682 W. Thalbitzer 



the basis of the charts of previous expeditions and may be used for the whole 

 of this volume, in which Kleinschmidt's orthography has been followed every- 

 where except in my paper. The more correct forms of the names, corresponding 

 to the true pronunciation of the East Greenlanders, will be found here on 

 pp. 350—351. 



EARLIER AUTHORS ON THE ESKIMO OF THE DAVIS STRAITS. 



As it has been my object throughout the preceding comparative descrip- 

 tion to distinguish between the original features of the Eskimo culture and the 

 recent ones due to the influence of Europeans I have often sought back to the 

 earhest authors^). Though their reports are generally written mainly for other 

 purposes than to give ethnographical descriptions of the Eskimo met with, they 

 yet contain several good authentic representations of the appearance, imple- 

 ments, clothes etc. of the natives. In these reports we might expect to find 

 descriptions of the more original features, and this has also constantly been the 

 case as far as it has been possible to control. 



The first detailed description of the West Greenlanders' ethnography is 

 already found in Martin Frobisher, the man who rediscovered them in more 

 recent times, especially during his second journey. On his first journey (1576) 

 he only succeeded, as is known, in sighting Greenland's coast (the east coast), 

 but landed on the other side of the Davis Straits near Meta Incognita (Frobi- 

 sher Bay) on Baffin Land. His description of the Eskimo met there and their 

 boats is very short, but he gives from there the first existing Eskimo list of words 

 (17 words). From his second journey (1577) we have on the other hand a more 

 thorough description of the Greenlanders, the first ethnography of the Eskimo, 

 200 years earlier than Otho Fabricius described their hunting weapons. Fro- 

 bisher mentions the outer appearance of the Greenlanders, their tattoo-mar- 

 kings, hair-dressing, clothes, mode of living, sledges and boats, houses and tents, 

 weapons and knives; he mentions also the use of iron for their implements as 

 a proof of their earlier connection with the Europeans. Also from his third 

 journey (1578) Frobisher gives interesting contributions to the ethnology of 

 the Greenlanders. 



Compared with Frobisher the next explorer of the country, John Davis, 

 does not yield so much important material in his report about the natives. 



To supplement the various details in my description I may give some cita- 

 tions regarding the West Greenlanders, originating from the middle of the 17th 

 century. Of these Olearius' communications are based upon his own and the 

 royal surgeon ("Feldscheer") Reinhold Horrn's observations. The three Green- 

 landers^) brought to Copenhagen in 1654 by David Dannel were sent to the 

 king who happened to be at Gottorp castle in South Jutland. Horrn had charge 

 of them and they stayed for some days with Olearius in Gottorp. The result 

 of the two men's examination of the external appearance, implements and lan- 

 guage of the Greenlanders is given in some pages of Olearius' large work of 1656. 



*) As far as East Greenland is concerned, see the citations on pp. 334 — 339. 



^J A contemporary painting of the four Greenlanders going from Greenland via 

 Throndhjera, where the picture was painted, to Copenhagen, is found in the 

 National Museum of Copenhagen (cf here p. 436). It has often been reproduced, 

 e. g. b}' Jacobæus in his Theatrum Regium 169(3, PI. XII and in Bahnson (1900, 

 vol. I, p. 232, fig. 104;. 



