Read Ebook: Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune 1903-1904 by Low A P Albert Peter

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As has been already stated, the islands of this group can only be reached with considerable difficulty on account of their position. Little is known of them beyond the outline of their shores, and even these have not been fully traced in the case of the more western islands.

North Somerset, separated from the northern part of Baffin by Prince Regent inlet, is the best known of the group, and its northern and eastern shores have long been resorts of the whalers in their search for the valuable Right whale in the adjoining waters. The less valuable white whales are often abundant along these shores, and are taken by the whalers when the larger whales cannot be obtained. The greatest length of this island is from north to south, being 140 miles, while its extreme breadth in the northern part is about a hundred miles. In shape it somewhat resembles a ham with the shank to the southward, where the narrow Bellot strait separates it from Boothia peninsula, a northern extension of the continent, remarkable for containing the North Magnetic Pole within its area. The northern coast of North Somerset is formed of limestone cliffs; these are lower and less abrupt than on the northern Baffin coast, while the bays indenting them are wider and not so long as is usual on such coasts. Along the eastern side the cliffs rise nearly 1,000 feet directly from the sea. To the south, along this shore, the cliffs gradually decline, until the low lands about Creswell bay are passed, when the country again becomes high and the coast bold. The western side of the island, facing on Peel sound, is occupied by a wide strip of Archaean rocks, and the physical character corresponds to that of other like areas. This coast never rises above the 1,000 feet contour, and towards the south is considerably lower. There does not appear to be any continuous ice-cap upon North Somerset, and the glacial conditions are confined to isolated snow patches, with small glaciers in some of the larger valleys. These glaciers do not discharge icebergs.

Prince of Wales island is separated from North Somerset by the narrow channel of Peel sound and Franklin strait. It is irregular in shape, being broken by a number of large bays. The greatest length, 175 miles, is from north to south, while the broadest part is 125 miles across. The northeast corner is occupied by crystalline rocks, the remainder being of limestone. In no place does the elevation of the interior plain exceed 500 feet.

King William island lies to the southward of Prince of Wales island in an angle formed by the northern coast of the continent and Boothia peninsula. It is described as a low barren island of limestone, of triangular shape, with a base seventy miles long on the northwest side, the other sides having each a length of nearly one hundred miles. The island is noted for the discovery on its shores of the bodies of several of the ill-fated members of Franklin's expedition, together with the record of Franklin's death and the crushing of the ships in the heavy ice off the northwest coast of the island.

Victoria island is the third largest of the Arctic archipelago, its area being 74,400 square miles. Only the western and southern shores of this great island have been explored, and practically nothing is known of its interior. It is 450 miles long from northwest to southeast, and is over 300 miles across in the widest part. With the exception of a small area in the northwest, it is formed of Silurian limestone. The island is generally level, the greater part of it being well below an elevation of 500 feet.

Banks island is the most western of this group; it is separated from Victoria by the narrow Prince of Wales strait. Its greatest length from northeast to southwest is about 250 miles, while the average breadth is about 120 miles. The island is formed largely of the softer rocks of the Carboniferous, and is considerably higher than those to the eastward, the greater part of the interior being above 1,000 feet, while in the southern part the plateau reaches an altitude of 3,000 feet. The soil from the Carboniferous rocks being richer and deeper than that on the bare limestone islands, supports a good growth of arctic vegetation, and in consequence the valleys leading to the coast are the feeding grounds of large bands of musk-oxen, barren-ground caribou and arctic hares, this abundance of animal life being in marked contrast to that on the barren limestone islands. The lowlands bordering the sea in the northwest part of the island are formed of Miocene-Tertiary deposits, containing numerous trees allied to those now covering the wooded northern parts of the mainland, far to the southward. The presence of these trees shows that, in the period before the Ice-age, the climate of these northern islands must have been much warmer than at present.

The island of Ellesmere is only second in size to Baffin island, and is remarkable for its north end extending to beyond the eighty-third parallel of N. latitude, or to within 500 miles of the North Pole. Its length from north to south covers nearly seven degrees of latitude, or approximately 500 miles; its greatest breadth across the northern part exceeds 200 miles. Being deeply indented by large bays both on its east and west sides, its outline is quite irregular. Smith sound, and its northern extensions Kennedy and Robeson channels, separate the eastern shores of Ellesmere from the northern part of Greenland.

The general elevation of the island is high, and probably exceeds 2,500 feet. In the northern part the United States mountains are upwards of 4,000 feet high, while isolated peaks of this range reach a height of almost 5,000 feet. It is remarkable that this high northern land is not covered with a continuous ice-cap, but this is probably due to the small precipitation of moisture derived from the ice-covered northern seas. The first large ice-cap is situated in the interior, to the south of 81? N. latitude, and extends southward to 79? N. latitude, where an area of lower lands occurs near the junction of the Palaeozoic rocks of the north and the Archaean of the southeast. The southeastern quarter of the island occupied by crystalline rocks has a general elevation of 3,000 feet or over, and is covered by a great ice-cap, with numerous glaciers discharging from it into the eastern bays. A great thickness of Palaeozoic extending upwards from the Silurian to the Carboniferous occupies the southwest quarter of the island, where the rocks rise abruptly to a tableland with an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet. The cliffs of the southern coast are indented by many long narrow fiords. Along the western side of the island is a wide margin of softer Mesozoic rocks which form low plains extending from the seashore several miles inland to the base of the high cliffs of older rocks. These plains are covered with arctic vegetation. Musk-oxen, barren-ground caribou and arctic hares are found there in large numbers, along with geese and other aquatic birds.

North Devon island lies to the south of Ellesmere, being separated from it by Jones sound; Lancaster sound bounds it on the south. The island, in shape, somewhat resembles a swimming bird with the head to the northwest and the body east and west. The body is about 220 miles long and averages seventy-five miles across. Grinnell peninsula forms the head, the neck being very irregular, and nearly pierced through by several long bays; the length of head and neck is a hundred miles. The eastern third of the island is composed of crystalline rocks, and rises to an irregular ice-clad tableland some 3,000 feet in altitude. The rise to the interior is somewhat abrupt, and the landscape, seen from the sea, shows an interior ice-cap in the distance, with bare rocky hills rising irregularly above the slopes of the glaciers flowing down the valleys to the sea. The western part of the island is formed of limestone, and is a flat tableland cut by deep narrow fiords that extend inland many miles from the coast, and are continued beyond the salt water as the valleys of small rivers. The general elevation of the tableland in the eastern part is nearly 2,000 feet, but this decreases in the westward, so that on the west side the cliffs are below, and in the interior not much above, a thousand feet. The eastern part of this limestone plateau is covered, at least along the coast, by an ice-cap, and a few small glaciers discharge from it directly into the sea. The ice-cap retreats from the fore part of the plateau, and finally disappears before the western shores of the island is reached. There is lower land along the west side of the island, where there is a good growth of arctic plants on which large numbers of musk-oxen feed, together with some barren-ground caribou and arctic hares. The Eskimos from northern parts of Baffin island often cross Lancaster sound to hunt these animals on the western side of North Devon. Walrus and white bears are also plentiful amongst the ice of Wellington channel which separates North Devon from Cornwallis island on the west. Sverdrup found the remains of Eskimo encampments everywhere along the west side of Ellesmere, and speculated as to where the people who made them came from, and also how the Eskimos reached Greenland. The knowledge that the Baffin natives cross to North Devon, and that some of them have joined the arctic highlanders of Smith sound, disposes of these speculations. Their road is across Prince Regent inlet from Baffin to North Somerset, thence across Lancaster sound to the western part of North Devon. The west side of that island is followed north to the narrows of the western part of Jones sound, and a crossing then made to the western side of Ellesmere, where game is plentiful. This coast of plenty would be followed northward to Bay fiord, where the natural pass across Ellesmere would lead to the fiords of the east side of the island a short distance to the north of Cape Sabine, a place frequently visited by the north Greenland natives.

The Parry islands--Cornwallis, Bathurst, Melville, Eglinton and Prince Patrick--all lie immediately north of the western extension of Lancaster sound--known in parts as Barrow strait, Melville sound and McClure strait. These islands were first discovered by Parry in 1819, but it was the diligent search parties for Franklin that minutely investigated their shores, making them the best known of all the Arctic islands. With the exception of the southern part of Cornwallis, which is formed from Silurian limestone, these islands are composed of softer bedded rocks of the Devonian and Carboniferous. They possess the same physical characteristics, and a general description answers for all. The shore-lines are very broken, being deeply cut by long irregular shaped bays. The land rises in cliffs from 400 feet to 700 feet high, to a plateau broken by many cross ravines, which render travel in the interior difficult. The general level of the interior is under 1,000 feet, and only rarely does it rise above that altitude. In many places coal has been found outcropping in the face of the cliffs of all the islands west of Cornwallis. The practical impossibility of reaching these coal fields precludes them from being counted among the economic resources of Canada.

The other islands of the group, being formed of the softer rocks of the Mesozoic, are lower in general elevation, and are characterized by wide stretches of low land between the sea and the crumbling cliffs, which rise to the uneven interior plateau, that rarely exceeds 700 feet in elevation.

The Eskimos are a circumpolar race, and live in the treeless areas of the northern parts of America and Greenland. Their present southern limit, on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, is Hamilton inlet, in 54? N. latitude. From there they inhabit the coast to Hudson strait, and thence along the east coast of Hudson bay, as far south as Cape Jones, at the entrance to James bay. On the west side of Hudson bay their southern limit is much farther north, being at Churchill, in 57? 30? N. latitude. Northward of that place they are found at intervals along the entire northern coast of the continent to Alaska. A large number inhabit Baffin island and Nottingham island. The west part of Hudson strait is peopled by a band of these natives, while occasional small parties cross Lancaster sound to North Devon island, and, continuing northward, come in contact with the natives of north Greenland at Smith sound. To the westward of Hudson bay, the Eskimos are mostly confined to the continent, and only make occasional visits to the southern shores of the large islands off the Arctic coast.

A considerable number of Eskimos, forming small communities, inhabit the east coast of Greenland from its southern end up to Melville bay, where a stretch of uninhabited coast occurs between the southern settlements and the home of the arctic highlanders at Smith sound, there forming the most northern permanent settlement of the human race. This is on the east side of the sound, between 74? and 77? N. latitude, or from Cape York to the southern side of the great Humboldt glacier.

At the time of the European discovery of the northern parts of America, the Eskimos extended along the coasts considerably south of their present limits. They occupied the entire Atlantic coast of Labrador, and lived far along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Eskimos and Indians have always been open enemies. With the advent of the whites, the Indians soon became possessed of firearms, which gave them a great advantage over their northern foes, who were compelled to retreat beyond the tree-limit in the northern regions; here they were safe, as the Indians cannot live without firewood.

The Eskimos continued to inhabit the eastern part of the shore of the gulf of St. Lawrence until about 1630, when they were expelled by the French and Indians. Captain W. Coats, in his notes on Hudson bay, states that in 1748 the Iroquois sent to the Indians of the bay for captive Eskimos, to be used as human sacrifices at some great feast; that the chief of the northern Indians proceeded forthwith on the war-path against the Eskimos capturing seven and killing thirteen; the captives were sent south to the land of the Iroquois in what is now New York State.

In 1770-72, Samuel Hearne accompanied a band of Chippewyan Indians on a journey from Churchill to the mouth of the Coppermine river. These Indians were only induced to go to the Arctic coast on the chance of killing Eskimos. This they did, by surprising a band busily engaged in fishing at the first fall above the mouth of the river, massacring them all.

This warfare appears to have continued until the Eskimos obtained firearms, when, the conditions becoming equal, the Indians soon found that the pleasure of the Eskimo chase did not compensate for the danger incurred, and, for many years past, active hostilities have ceased, though the two races are still unfriendly, and rarely, or never, intermarry.

Scattered over such a wide area of country, with such poor means of communication, it naturally follows that the Eskimo race is broken up into a number of tribes, distinguished by difference in dialect, and by slight differences in manners and customs. But these are so surprisingly few, considering the conditions, that an Eskimo from the Atlantic coast has no difficulty in conversing with the natives of the west coast of Hudson bay, or with those of Greenland. Their religious beliefs and ceremonies are also wonderfully alike everywhere, and only minor differences are to be seen in their sleds, boats, tents and implements of the chase, these being largely due to the materials used. In fact so close are the essential resemblances that a description of the language, manners and customs of any tribe requires only slight modifications to suit those of the other tribes.

DISTRIBUTION AND NUMBERS OF THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS.

Dr. Franz Boas, who has devoted much attention to the study of the Eskimos, has named those of the eastern half of the continent the Central Eskimos, to distinguish them from the natives of Greenland and from those of the western Arctic coast and Alaska.

The following divisions are taken from Boas, with such modifications as have been found necessary.

The numbers of the different divisions are in many instances only approximate, as it is exceedingly difficult to arrive at a correct census, even when actually on the ground, owing to the lack of appreciation of the natives of numbers and to their want of interest in such investigations.

THE CENTRAL ESKIMOS.

Kedlingmiut 28.

Koguangmiut .

Okomingmiut 115.

Sedlingmiut 40.

Nuvungmiut 35.

Itivimiut .

Kittoktangmiut .

Sikosilingmiut 150.

Akolingmiut 125.

Kuamangmiut 80.

Nottingham island, 30.

Nugumiut 120.

Okommiut 260.

Akudnairngmiut 90.

Tunungmiut 140.

Tunurusungmiut 40.

Padlimiut .

Kenipitumiut 140.

Shaunuktungmiut .

Aivillingmiut 138.

Iglulingmiut 60.

Nechillingmiut 450.

From the above table, it will be seen that the total Eskimo population of the eastern half of Arctic America ranges between 3,400 and 3,700 individuals. These people are scattered along the coasts of the mainland and northern islands, while a few live continuously inland to the west of Hudson bay. The present northern limit of permanent settlement of the Eskimos, in eastern Canada, is Lancaster sound and its western extensions, in about 74? N. latitude. Many traces of their habitations have been found on the islands north of Lancaster sound, and far north along the west side of Ellesmere island, but these only represent the temporary quarters of stragglers from the south, who return after a short sojurn in the north.

On the west side of Hudson bay the natives extend southward to the neighbourhood of Churchill, the most southern tribe being the Padlimiut, who inhabit the country northward from Churchill to Ranken inlet, and inland in a northwest direction along the edge of the forest-line to about the latitude of Ranken inlet. Their northern neighbours are the Kenipitumiut, who occupy the territory about Chesterfield inlet and along the rivers tributary to that great bay. The Kenipitumiut are not very numerous, and, according to Captain George Comer, who has made a very careful census of the natives of the west part of Hudson bay, they only number 140 persons. The Aivillingmiut are next northward, and are more confined to the coast than the southern natives; they consequently depend largely on the sea animals for food and clothing, the southern people living mostly on the barren-ground caribou. The Aivilliks are scattered along the coast from Cape Fullerton to Repulse bay. These are the natives employed by the American whalers to assist in the whaling industry, and who in consequence are more civilized than their neighbours north and south. From long contact with the whalers, there is an admixture of white blood in this tribe, although half-breeds usually die young. The tribe has contracted some of the loathsome diseases of civilization. They at present number 138 persons, and the population now appears to be nearly stationary, though there was a considerable decrease for some years after the whaling vessels first frequented the bay and before the tribe became accustomed to the changes involved.

The Iglulingmiut are a small tribe occupying the east shore of Fox channel, from Repulse bay northward to Fury and Hecla strait, and were the tribe met with and described by Parry, who wintered among them in 1821-22. According to Captain Comer they now number only sixty persons, and are not increasing.

The Nechillingmiut are the most numerous tribe to the westward of Hudson bay, and number about 450 persons. They inhabit the country to the westward of the Igluliks and Aivilliks, extending westward and northward to Back river and the shores and islands of the Arctic sea. The Sinimiut were a small independent tribe, living about the southern shores of Committee bay, but they have now been absorbed into the Nechilliks.

Another small inland tribe is the Shaunuktungmiut, who occupy territory to the southwest of Chesterfield inlet. Little is known about this people, except that they are a small tribe allied to the Kenipitumiut.

Coming to the natives of Baffin island, the Nugumiut tribe inhabit the country about Frobisher bay, and at present have their headquarters at the whaling settlement at Cape Haven, being employed about the station, during the periods of open water, in chasing whales, walrus and seals. Their number is sufficient to man four whaleboats, requiring about twenty able-bodied men, and the total population does not exceed 120 persons.

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