ABSTRACT
A primitive savage's drawing is often like a child's; the object engaging his attention is placed in the foreground, large and unconnected to other objects around it. The tendency of many primitive peoples to nomadism advances their development in the art of cartography. As a rule, the maps of primitive peoples are restricted to very small areas, perhaps not exceeding 100 square miles. Maps drawn on bark, chiefly birch-bark, are particularly common in Siberia and among the North American Indians. They are easily carried, and this factor contributed to their wide distribution; Indians of north-west America used to take whole rolls of such maps with them during their wanderings. While many savage peoples have shown some skill in drawing maps on a plane surface, the Eskimos are perhaps alone in attempting the delineation of relief features. Maps were drawn with facility and accuracy that they could be used with confidence by travellers.
