Queries regarding the Esquimaux. 197 



Report from a Commission who had supplied Instructions to Dr 

 Gaymard, the physician of the expedition, sent in search of La 

 Lilloise. — The expedition has two principal objects in view : the 

 one to visit Iceland, the other to endeavour to effect a passage 

 across the icy barrier, which has rendered Greenland inaccessi- 

 ble for nearly four centuries, and accordingly the commission di- 

 rects attention to both these objects. — If the expedition reaches 

 Greenland, the following objects of investigation are particularly 

 indicated as deserving regard : Whether the Esquimaux are the 

 true indigenous inhabitants of the country ? Whether the wan- 

 dering tribes have a close resemblance, or differ much among 

 themselves, as it regards their external form, their moral ener- 

 gies, &c, a difference which was observed by C ail lie respecting 

 the wandering tribes in Africa ? Are they all possessed, or is 

 it only some of them, who have the incisor teeth enlarged, much 

 like the molar, as is found in some of the ancient mummies of 

 Egypt ? Have they the caruncula lachrymalis of the eye co- 

 vered with a vertical membrane ? Are their eyes approximated 

 toward their nose, as in the Chinese ? and their feet extremely 

 small, as in the Kamtschatkans ? also, Have they beards ? It 

 should be "examined if the Greenland Esquimaux have parti- 

 cular affinities with the Esquimaux scattered over the whole of 

 the northern parts of America, and also with some of the tribes 

 in Asia ; and finally, as asserted by Robertson, with certain of 

 the nations of Europe? Or do they form, as Blumenbach 

 maintains, an intermediate race between the Mongols and the 

 native Americans ? It should also be ascertained whether the 

 Esquimaux obtain the principal part of their food from the flesh 

 of the eetaceoe and of fishes, and whether it is their oil which 

 they chiefly drink. It should also be observed what influence 

 this kind of nourishment has upon their general health ; if whilst 

 they may appear tolerably stout, the Esquimaux are notwith- 

 standing but a feeble race, and but imperfectly nourished by 

 this half digested oil ; are debilitated and of a relaxed fibre ; al- 

 so whether this oil has any influence in producing the dark co- 

 lour of the skin which is common among them. — Dr Gaymard 

 is also directed to bestow attention on the inveterate cutaneous 

 diseases to which they are liable, and ascertain their relations to 

 the affections of the skin in temperate climates; he will particu- 



