INTRODUCTION. 
XXV 
usual supplies, and became the means of their 
extinction. 
Which of these causes may have occasioned 
the loss of the colonies to Iceland and Norway, 
or the suspension of the intercourse, is a question 
of comparatively little moment; but the deter¬ 
mination of the fact of their total extinction, or 
their present existence, is an inquiry of a high 
degree of interest and importance. 
If they still exist, What are their present state 
and situation,—their mental and moral condi¬ 
tion ? They were a civilized and perhaps intel¬ 
ligent people : To what extent has intercourse 
and admixture with the native Esquimaux, bar¬ 
barized their manners, and reduced their men¬ 
tal faculties ? They were a Christian people : 
To what extent has the force of example and in¬ 
corporation with a heathen nation, been produc¬ 
tive of demoralization, and the loss of the benign 
influences of Christianity ? 
These are questions, which, to humanity in 
general, and to Christian philanthropy in parti- 
