22 Chapter I. 



which we do not know, but which may be assumed to 

 flow very near the North Pole, or at some place between 

 it and Fran/ Josef Land. 



"There are, moreover, still further proofs that such a 

 current exists. As is well known, no trees grow in 

 Greenland that can be used for making boats, sledges, 

 or other appliances. The driftwood that is carried 

 down by the polar current along the east coast of 

 Greenland and up the west coast is, therefore, essential 

 to the existence of the Greenland Eskimo. But 

 whence does this timber come ? 



" Here our enquiries again carry us to lands on the 

 other side of the Pole. I have myself had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining large quantities of driftwood both 

 on the west coast and on the east coast of Greenland. 

 I have, moreover, found pieces drifting in the sea oft 

 the east coast, and, like earlier travellers, have arrived at 

 the conclusion that much the greater part of it can only 

 have come from Siberia, while a smaller portion may 

 possibly have come from America. For amongst it are 

 to be found fir, Siberian larch, and other kinds of wood 

 peculiar to the north, which could scarcely have come 

 from any other quarter. Interesting in this respect are 

 the discoveries that have been made on the east coast of 

 Greenland by the second German Polar Expedition. 

 Out of twenty-five pieces of driftwood, seventeen were 

 Siberian larch, five Norwegian fir (probably picca 

 obovata], two a kind of alder (ctlnus incana ?), and 



