FLORA OF "WESTERN ESKIMATJX-LAND. 17 
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But it must not be supposed that during this time the sleep of plants is suspended. 
That function, though short, is as regular as in the tropics. AA'ith a midnight sun several 
degrees above the horizon, the leaves droop when evening approaches, partaking of that rest 
which seems to be necessary to the existence of both animal and vegetable life. If man should 
ever reach the Pole, and be undecided wliich way to turn, — when his compass has become 
sluggish, his timepiece out of order, — the plants which he may happen to meet will show 
him the way ; their sleeping leaves tell liim that midnight is at hand, and that at that time 
the sun is standing in the north. Human skill has long tried to construct instruments to aid 
those venturing to the Pole to find their way back. How ciu-ious if an all-wise Providence 
should have extended the range of a few Leguminous plants to the very axis of our planet, 
and made some humble herbs the means of furthering the solution of the greatest of gcogra- 
plrical problems ! 
The whole country from Norton Sound to Point Barrow is a vast moorland, whose level 
is only interrupted by a few promontories and isolated mountains. The rain and snow-water, 
prevented by a frozen soil from descending, forms numerous lagoons, or, where the formation 
of the ground opposes this, bogs, the general aspect and vegetation of which do not materially 
differ from those of Northern Em-ope, being covered with a dense mass of Lichens, Mosses, 
and other uliginous forms. Places less crowded with plants are sometimes difficult to pass. 
The ground is soft, and covered with isolated tufts of Eriophorum capitaiam. In walking over 
them some of the tufts give way, or the foot slides and sinks into the mud, from which it is 
often difficult to extricate it. Wherever drainage exists, either on the shores of the sea, the 
banks of rivers, or the slopes of hiUs, the ground is free from peat. Such localities are generally 
clad with a luxuriant herbage, and produce the rarest, as well as the most beautiful plants. 
The aspect of some spots is very gay. Many flowers are large, their colours bright, and, 
thou-h white and yeUow predominate, plants displaying other tints are not uncommon. 
Cape\isburne, one of the most productive locahties, looks like a garden. The Geum glaciale, 
with its fine yellow blossoms, is intermingled with the purple Claytonia samentosa, and a 
host of Anemones and white and yeUow Saxifrages, or the blue Myosoiis alptna. But such 
spots are rare, they are like oases in deserts. The Plora cannot be said to possess an im- 
posing aspect. There is nothing to reheve the monotony of the steppes. A few stunted 
Coniferous and WiUow trees afford Httle variety, and even these, on passmg the boundary o 
the Fri^d zone, are either transformed into dwarf bushes, or disappear altogether. About 
Norton Sound groves of mite Spruce-trees and Sali. speciosa are frequcn northwards they 
become less abundant, till in latitude 66^44' 0" north, on the banks of the ^oatak, P^.ms 
alia disappears. Alnus virMis extends as far as Kotzebue Sound, where, m compa^^^ ^^h 
Sail, viuL. S. Bichardsoni. and S. speciosa. it forms low brushwood. With the com- 
men— f the Arctic circle Alms viridis ceases to exist ; Sali..peaosa S mckarJs.n. 
"ZiUosa extend their range farther, but are only for a short distance able to keep the. 
ground; at Cape Lisburne, in latitude 68^ 52' r north, they are m the most favom-able 
