ferent languages are of no ethnic value.
Although these may be the views of many persons not only in regard to
the Eskimo tongue but in regard to philology in general, the matter has
a wonderful fascination for more speculative minds.

Much has been said about the affinity of language among the Eskimo--some
asserting that it is such as to allow mutual intercourse everywhere--but
instances warrant us in concluding that considerable deviations exist in
their vocabularies, if not in the grammatical construction. For
instance, take two words that one hears oftener than any others: On the
Alaska coast they say "na-koo-ruk," a word meaning "good," "all right,"
etc.; on the Siberian coast "mah-zink-ah," while a vocabulary collected
during Lieutenant Schwatka's expedition gives the word "mah-muk'-poo"
for "good." The first two of these words are so characteristic of the
tribes on the respective shores above the straits that a better
designation than any yet given to them by writers on the subject would
be _Nakoorooks_ for the people on the American side and _Mazinkahs_ for
those on the Siberian coast. These names, by which they know each
other, are in general use among the whalemen and were adopted by every
one on board the _Corwin_.

Again, on the American coast "Am-a-luk-tuk" signifies plenty, while on
the Siberian coast it is "Num-kuck-ee." "Tee-tee-tah" means needles in
Siberia, in Alaska it is "mitkin." In the latter place when asking for
tobacco they say "te-ba-muk," while the Asiatics say "salopa." That a
number of dialects exists around Bering straits is apparent to the most
superficial observer. The difference in the language becomes apparent
after leaving Norton sound. The interpreter we took from Saint Michael's
could only with difficulty understand the natives at Point Barrow, while
at Saint Lawrence island and on the Asiatic side he could understand
nothing at all. At East cape we saw natives who, though apparently
alike, did not understand each other's language. I saw the same thing at
Cape Prince of Wales, the western extremity of the New World, whither a
number of Eskimo from the Wankarem river, Siberia, had come to trade.
Doubtless there is a community of origin in the Eskimo tongue, and these
verbal divergencies may be owing to the want of written records to give
fixity to the language, since languages resemble living organisms by
being in a state of continual change. Be that as it may, we know that
this peop