SCIENCE. 
35 
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1880. 
ETHNOLOGY.* 
FRAGMENTARY NOTES ON THE ESKIMO OF CUMBERLAND 
SOUND. 
By Ludwig Kumlien. 
The record of the voyage of the Florence , the vessel 
which conveyed the Howgate preliminary Polar ex- 
pedition, has been printed by the Smithsonian, Insti- 
tution by request of Professor Spencer F. Baird, and 
forms the fifteenth of a series of papers intended to 
illustrate the collection of natural history and ethnol- 
ogy belonging to the United States, constituting the 
National Museum, placed in charge of the Smith- 
sonian Institution by an act of Congress. 
The report on “ Ethnology ” by Ludwig Kumlien is 
of great interest, and on this occasion we confine our 
attention to this part of the work, reserving other 
branches for future notice. 
He states that the Cumberland Straits, Sound, Gulf 
or Inlet, extends from about lat. 65° N. to lat. 67° 
+ N. It is the Cumberland Straits of Baffin, its 
original discoverer at the end of the sixteenth century ; 
the Hogarth Sound of Captain Penny, who re-dis- 
covered it in 1839 > an d the Northumberland Inlet of 
Captain Wareham in 1841. 
During the last quarter century it has often been 
visited by Scotch and American whalemen, ships fre- 
quently wintering on the southwestern shores. 
It is at present unknown whether it be a sound or gulf ; 
it is generally considered to be a gulf, but some Eskimo 
say that the Kingwah Fjord, one of the arms extend- 
ing to the NE., opens into a large expanse of water, 
to them unknown. Icebergs are also sometimes 
found in this fjord which from their positions, seem to 
have come from the northward, and not from the 
south. 
The eastern shore of this sound forms the western 
boundary of that portion of Cumberland Island which 
lies between its waters and Davis Straits, and known 
as the Penny Peninsula. 
In about lat. 66° N. the Kingnite Fjord extends 
from the sound in a ENE. direction, and nearly joins 
Exeter Sound from Davis Straits ; they are separated 
only by a portage of a few miles. The Cumberland 
Eskimo make frequent excursions to the eastern shore 
via these fjords, but seem to have extended their mi- 
grations but a short distance northward, finding Cum- 
berland Sound more to their tastes. 
The width of Cumberland Sound opposite Niantilic 
is about thirty miles, possibly its widest part. It is 
indented by numerous and large fjords, few, if any, of 
them having been explored ; many islands are scat- 
tered along both shores, and in some instances form 
quite considerable groups. 
The present Eskimo are few in numbers. We 
would estimate the entire population, men, women, 
and children, on both sides of the sound, from Cape 
Mercy on the east to Nugumeute on the west, not to 
exceed four hundred individuals. It is certain that 
within the last thirty years the mortality has been very 
great among them ; even the whalemen remark an 
astonishing diminution in their numbers at the present 
day, as compared with twenty years ago. 
Numerous traditions exist among them of the time 
when they warred with other tribes, and old men, now 
living, have pointed out to us islands that were once 
the scene of battles, where the besieged party was 
starved into submission by their enemies. According 
to the usual story, the hurling of stones was one of 
the most effective and common modes of warfare ; 
this was especially the case when one party could get 
upon a ledge above the other. At the present day 
they are peaceful and quiet, have no recognized 
leader, and no desire to fight, even if their numbers 
would permit of it. 
As the story goes, the present population were the 
victors in those fights, and took possession of the 
country they now inhabit. Some say they came from 
the northwest, and found another tribe, which they 
overcame and drove away. Their stories on this sub- 
ject vary, and sometimes with this unusually interest- 
ing tradition, as well as many others, they get events 
of a very recent date hopelessly mixed up with the 
rest ; and it is no unusual instance to find that some 
whaler, with a good imagination, has supplied and re- 
stored lost portions of the narrative, to their entire 
satisfaction ; but these restorations are chiefly remark- 
able for their utter disregard of truth or possibility. 
The following tradition is a translation from one of 
the most reliable natives we became acquainted with : 
“A long time ago (tichemaniadlo) other Innuits 
(Eskimo) were found here ; they were called ‘ Tunak ’ ; 
they were very strong, very large, and had short legs 
and large arms ; they had very wide chests. Their 
clothes were made of bear skins, and their knives 
from walrus tusks. They did not use bows and arrows, 
but only the harpoon-lance ; they harpooned the 
reindeer in the water, from their' kyacks, which were 
very large. The Tunuks made houses out of stone. 
They were able to lift large stones. We were afraid 
of them ; we fought with them and killed them. 
They (the Tunuks) came in the first place from 
Greenland. The women made clothes from their 
own hair. They had no dogs at that time, but they 
made sledges and harnesses, and finally {witchou — by 
and by) put the harnesses on three rocks, one white, 
one red, and one black ; they then called, and when 
they looked they found the stones had been trans- 
formed into dogs. After a time they got plenty of dogs ; 
then they went about more. The present Eskimo 
could not understand their language. They lived to 
a great age (£. tukewouk nami = did not die !). Far 
to the west some Eskimo lately saw some Tunuks ; 
they had bear-skin clothing. In the Tunuks land 
(where ?) the musk ox ( oming muk), bear, and seals 
are abundant. They build walls of stones on the 
land, and drive the reindeer into ponds, and catch 
them in kyacks. They have a large, long callytong 
(coat, or jumper jacket) that they fasten down around 
them on the ice while they are watching a seal’s hole ; 
underneath this garment, on the ice, they place a 
lamp ; over this lamp they cook meat. Their eyes 
* Bulletin (15) of the U. S. National Museum. Contributed to the Natural 
History of Arctic America made in connection with the Howgate Polar 
expedition 1877-78. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1879. 
