iESKIMO TRADITIONS. 259 



the field of hard wars between the Micmacs and Esqui- 

 maux ; the latter were always chased by the former" 



(P- 339)- 



Nearly all the extracts we have made tend to show 

 that the Eskimos were generally driven northward by the 

 Indians and confined by them to their natural habitat, 

 the treeless regions of arctic America, whither the In- 

 dians themselves did not care to penetrate. 



In 181 1 two Moravian missionaries* explored the 

 northern coast of Labrador from Okkak to Ungava Bay, 

 making an excellent map of this part of the coast. The 

 expedition arose from their desire to establish missions 

 where the Eskimos were abundant, as farther down the 

 coast they were regarded as " mere stragglers." 



An Eskimo tradition of interest is mentioned in this 

 book, as follows : "July 24th. Amitok lies N. W. from 

 Kummaktorvik, is of an oblong shape, and stretches out 

 pretty far towards the sea. The hills are of moderate 

 height, the land is in many places flat, but in general 

 destitute of grass. On the other side are some. ruins of 

 Greenland [Eskimo] houses. 



"The Esquimaux have a tradition that the Green- 



dant I'Etfe, dans tout ce vaste Continent, qui est entre le Fleuve Saint-Laurent, 

 le Canada, & la Mer du Nord, on n'a encore vfl que des Eskimaux. On en a 

 mSme trouvfe assez loin en remontant le Fleuve Bourbon, qui se d^charge dans 

 la Baye d'Hudson, venant de I'Occident.'' 



Nuttall, in his Manual of Ornithology, Water Birds (Boston, 1834), speaking 

 ' of the great auk, says : " Many are said to breed on the desert coasts of New- 

 foundland, where they have been seen by navigators, though not recently. 

 According to Pennant, the Esquimaux, who frequented this island, made cloth- 

 ing of the skins of these birds." 



* Journal of a voyage from Okkak, on the coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, 

 westward of Cape Chudleigh, undertaken to explore the coast and visit the Es- 

 quimaux in that unknown region. By Benj. Kohlmeister and George Knoch, 

 missionaries of the Church of the Unitas Fratrum. London, 1814, 8vo, pp. 83. 



