Arctic Heathen.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8835, 15 July 1905, Page 3 (Supplement)

Arctic Heathen.

Professor Mylins Eriksen, in tho course of a lecture at tho Altona Museum (says a Berlin correspondent), gave a graphic description of his recent expedition to Greenland. Professor Eriksen's main purpose in exploring Greenland was to study from an ethnological point of view not only those natives who have become converted to Christianity, but also the natives living round Cape York who still adhere to their heathen belief. Over two and a-half years were devoted to this purpose. On the journey to Melville Bay the expedition discovered numerous remains of houses and stone towers and other indications that these regions must have been permanently inhabited in former times. Wandering tribes from America must have lived there, as the Esquimaux live only in snow huts. The Danish flag was hoisted at Cape York and possession taken of tho country for tho King of Denmark.

Manslaughter is by no means uncommon among the heathen natives, but invariably leads to a bind of vendetta between the relatives of the murderer and those of the murdered person. If a young married man or his wife dies the surviving party has the right to kill the small children should he or she not be in a position to guarantee their maintenance. Aged persons, on the other hand, are willingly supported by their relatives. Children are never beaten or punished, no matter how badly they behave. The Esquimaux explain this custoi-j by saying that the children have no power of understanding, and therefore have no idea of wrong and punishment. The age ; of childhood ceases at the fourteenth year, i after which boys are exercised in hunting. | Girls are considered suitable for marriage ' at the age of 12 or 13. Polygamy seldom occurs, as there is a scarcity of Esquimaux women. Husbands maintain that their wives must be beaten several times annually to prevent their de-1 sire for supremacy in the household from becoming too persistent. The heathen Esquimaux lacks imagination, but his powers of observation are very acute. In spite of the fact that his life is an uninterrupted struggle for existence, the Greenlander is always in good humor, and his boisterous laugh can be heard sounding far over ice and snowfields. His way of telling stories is short and abrupt, but comical features are stronglv emphasised. His stories consist gener.allv of his own adventures, old fecen'ds * about fights with neighbors arid wild animals, about severe winters and great famines, about the creation of the world, and about supernatural beings. It is considered highly creditable to be able to tell stories so long that the audience is lulled to sleep. An orator who achieves this feat is solemnly welcomed on the next morning, and everyone thanks him profusely for the pleasure which he accorded the night before,