Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-11-27
ABOUT ESKIMO TRAVELLERS.
Long Journey Made by One OF the
Arctic Highlanders.

ESKIMO race mas Il BeoSi 'Piii'i' 49,
| They have names for every important
| topographic feature. and he has pun
| liehed "A very interesting map giving
| the native nomenclature for all that
| region.
\ great deal of his informa ton with
regard TO native places named was OBJ
tanned from Utuniahsoa, co years old,
who. Dr. Stein says, has travelled more
extensively i'm that region than any
| other man of the tribe.
This native says that when his
daughter MahSangWa, who is now
probably 80 years old, was three feet
tall. which must have been about 1875,
he and Il single comrade Arota, with
their wives and children, crossed Smith
Sound and built a nut on the west side
Of Cooked Hat island, where they spent
a year far removed from the rest of the
tribe. During this time the two hunt
ers penetrated into every corner of
Buchanan bay and along both of it's
upper branches, Flagler bay and Hit
bay, which We're explored by Peary in
1895.
Their they started down the east
coast of E,llesmere Land far to the
south. A third man, kedla, had mean
while Joined the party, but the poor
fellow died on the journey.
North of Clarence Head, a prominent
projection on the southeast coast of
Ellesmere Land, they found n deep bay
which is not yet shown on the maps.
Then they went inland in Southwest
erly direction till they came to Jones
1 EcEinonc tha
journey. but finding traces of former
occupancy.
In one place on the north shore Of the
sound they found the ruins of four old
houses. There was Il great abundance
of seals, the most valuable resource of
the Smith Sound natives. They think
they are prosperous wherever they can
find all the seals they want.
Utuniahsoa saw the shores of North
Devon. but nowhere in his travels had
he seen any land that seemed to him to
be quite 50 blessed as his old home
across Baftin bay in Greenland.
He particularly missed the little auks,
who breed in millions along the shores
where the Arctic Highlandcrs live.
They are esteemed for eating, great
winter use Only few of them are
found on the west side of Baffin bay;
so the explorer returned to his OLD
nome. richer in experience though not
in this worlds goods.
He WAS too FESTIVE, however. to re-
main long at home and he was soon off
again, bound south for the shores of
Melville bay. In the spring many men
Of the tribe go to this southern coast
to hunt bear; they have extended these
hunting trips as far south as DEVILS
Thumb. Isut ITtuniahsoa travelled a
considerable distance further south
than any other of his people. reaching
a point only ten miles north of Wilcox
Head.
In an interesting article which DIR.
Stein has written for Petermann's
Mitheilungen, he gives the Germans an
idea of the extent of the travels of this
native by denoting routes of the same
length and general direction in Ger
many The routes starting from Leip-
sic zigzag north to Stettin on the Bal
tic. then south to Prague in Austria
Hungary and back to Leipsic. These
journeys covering many hundreds of
miles. closely follow the curves of the
coast line. for only here is the snow
hard enough for good sledging.
DR. Stein. in his camp on Cape Sa-
bine, put down upon a map of that re-
gion all the geographic names he had
obtained from the natives. In this
work he was greatly assisted by them
and what he says of their geographic
aptitude is very interesting.
The natives had difficulty in distin-
gushing land from water on his map,
so he coiOred the water blue. and then
they had no trouble in understanding
tho map.
He mentions the curious fact that
while we usually examine map with
its south side nearest to us and the
north border away from US, they seem
to have difficulty in understanding the
map unless they are on the north side
Of it. He thinks that this is due to the
fact that they live near the northern
| limit of the country known to them and
| so from their homes look out upon the
world from north to south.
1t was astonishing how quickly they
would place their finger on the map
at any point which the white man des-
|
| of the natives went over the map with
him and he was thus able to verify the
geographic names and the positions
assigned to them.
Or. Stein has added interesting facts
| to the data collected earlier showing
| that the F.skimos are geographers Of
some attainment in their rude way.
Map making seems to be a talent pos
sessed by all Eskimo tribes.
When Captain Hall was engaged in
explorations north of Hudson bay he
found mans the natives had made that
We're fairly accurate and added consid-
erably to his knowledge of quite an ex-
tensive country. Captain Holm. who
discovered the natives of the east coast
of Greenland in 1SS3-S5, found some of
the strangest of maps.
Of course the natives know nothing
whatever Of our method of map max
ing. Their way was to take a piece of
| wood that has been brought to them on
TIE ice from some shipwreck and carve
| It into a representation of the region
| they desired to map.
| One of these maps which Captain
| Holm took to Denmark represents a
peninsula and he saws the cOnfigura-