AN ESQUIMAUX EYRIE. 37 



approach to within a very short distance of the shore. This 

 Arctic Gibraltar minus the fortifications has a ragged out- 

 line, and its surface is composed principally of stone covered 

 with mosses and lichens, but neither tree nor shrub nor 

 grass is to be found. Noticeable on the most elevated points 

 are a number of stone columns resembling the remains of a 

 Druidical place of worship, or the ruins of some old feudal 

 castle. 



" But the most noteworthy feature of the island is the 

 village, composed chiefly of houses excavated in the rocks 

 on a slope of somewhat less than forty-five degrees, and from 

 one to two hundred feet above the sea. At a distance it 

 looks not unlike the resort of some of the sea-fowl who 

 choose these isolated spots to hatch and rear their young. 

 The wonder naturally arises, what are the attractions and 

 capabilities of such a place, that the simple-minded Esqui- 

 maux should select it as an abode ? All of which can be 

 answered in one word walrus. Near the village is a cave, 

 used by the natives as a store-house or crypt for food, the en- 

 trance to which is not unlike an immense gable window. 



" More space might be devoted to a detailed description of 

 what may not inappropriately be called an Esquimaux eyrie, 

 rivaling in interest the lacustrine villages of Switzerland, so 

 remote and unique is its position ; but we will only conclude 

 by saying that the traveler and the archaeologist may go far 

 in their journeyings and researches before finding a place 

 that shall equal in grotesqueness this far away Walhalla of 

 the walrus family." 



The fact that nothing was heard of the Jeannette during 

 the season of 1880 did not cause general serious apprehen- 

 sions for her safety, and some Arctic navigators considered 

 it a good omen a promise that the expedition would be a 

 successful one, and that the purposes for which it was sent 

 out would be accomplished. On this subject Lieutenant 

 Weyprecht, of the Austro-Hungarian Arctic expedition of 

 1872, wrote as follows : 



"I cannot see any reason for being more anxious about 



