Finally we must in this connection refer to a treatise, Fragments sur les Esquimaux, la Mer d'Hudson et le Labrador, which, it is true, first appeared in 1838, but which is stated to have been written upon a treatise published in 1774 by Roger Curtis. In the English original, however, mention is only made of the Eskimos on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, whereas in the French edition appears a good deal of information which is apparently to apply to the Eskimos north of Churchill. And it actually does, although in a peculiar manner, and it is a striking example of how little ethnography may venture to disregard the all too frequently neglected criticism of documentary evidence. For it turns out that all the particulars, with one exception, have been written almost word for word from Hearne, and, it should be observed, in such a manner that Hearne's observations from Coppermine River are mixed up among those from Hudson Bay. This will be seen from the following summary:
| FRENCH TREATISE 1838. | HEARNE 1795. | |||
| 1. | Hudson Bay Co.'s sloop sent to Knappi Bay (Knapp's Bay, i. e. Dawson Inlet), Navels Bay (Nevill B.) and Whale Cove (p. 329). | 1. | Ditto in Hearne p. 298 and several other writers. | |
| 2. | The men "arrachent leur cheveux jusqu'à la racine" (p. 331). | 2. | "pulled out by the root". Coppermine River (p. 170). | |
| 3. | Soapstone cooking pots, widest at the top, "avec des poignées très fortes", "décorées de ciselures délicates autour du bord, et quelquefois de cannelures aux coins" (p. 331). | 3. | "something wider at the top than bottom", "strong handles of the solid stone", "ornamented with neat mouldings round the rim, and some of the large ones with a kind of flutework at each corner". Coppermine R. (p. 168). | |
| 4. | Arrow heads of stone and copper (p. 331). | 4. | Ditto. Coppermine R. (p. 168). | |
| 5. | Hatchets, "larges baionnettes" and knives of copper (p. 331). | 5. | "Hatchets, bayonets, knives". Coppermine R. (p. 156). | |
| 6. | Hatchets 5–6" long, 1½–2" wide, wood haft 12–14" long. Commonly used as chisel and driven into the wood with a heavy club (p. 332). | 6. | Hatchets 5–6" long, 1½–2” wide, wood haft 12–14" long. Commonly used as chisel and driven into the wood with hammer. Coppermine R. (p. 168 seq.). | |
| 7. | "Dagger" (i. e. snow knife) with blade in the form of "un as de pique" and 1' long handle of antler (p. 332). | 7. | Blade "like the ace of spades" "with the handle of deers horn a foot long". Coppermine R. (p. 169). | |
| 8. | Round skin tent in summer (p. 332). | 8. | Ditto. Coppermine R. and Hudson B. (p. 167). | |
