48 



anticipate here, but refer to the hitter sections of this work, 

 which are concerned with the Esliimo dialects. 



Accordingly, in order to reacii decisive results regarding 

 the earlier history of the Eskimo race, we must have far more 

 extensive investigations ; through the language alone we can 

 expect no results. When we consider how difficult it has been 

 to reach any decision about the distant past of the Indo- 

 European race by means of comparative investigations, and how 

 many different theories there are about the situation of the 

 original home of this people and about their wanderings, it is 

 scarcely surprising that no one has as yet succeeded in laying 

 down the lines for the first migrations of the Eskimo hordes 

 out from a common point of departure. Yet it does not seem 

 improbable that by means of archæological investigations and 

 a continued study of its traditions and language, we shall 

 sooner reach the desired results for this unmixed and strongly 

 marked coast-people than for a people whose history presents 

 more complexity. 



