458 TRAVELS OF A NATURALIST 



are scattered broadcast over the mossier Sphagnum- 

 covered portions. 



The grey hummocky ground is curiously intersected by 

 narrow natural trenches about 1\ to 2 feet in depth, 

 probably formed by the snow-water as it trickles down 

 towards the inlet and lakes in spring. These trenches 

 are mostly at right angles with one another and connected, 

 forming raised squares of tundra land between, or re- 

 sembling the meshes of a net on a giant scale. Their 

 edges and sides bear Arctic Bramble in larger quantities 

 than the rest of the surrounding slopes, and the bottom 

 is usually covered with grasses and sedges, but is some- 

 times bare of vegetation, showing only the dark peaty soil. 



Looking at these thick beds of Arctic Bramble plants and 

 the dry narrow "trenches, one cannot help thinking how 

 luxuriantly one might rest in them, ' and with upturned 

 lips milk the rich juices of the fruit,' * lazily turning from 

 side to side. One's head might be pillowed on the plants, 

 and in a season when the fruit is plentiful, and yellow, 

 and warm, and ripe, one's sides and hands be brushed by 

 innumerable berries, and great plenty be within reach of 

 one's unaided lips. 



July 27. 



At 5 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, the 27th of July, 

 I got up with the intention of reaching the far shore of 

 the inlet, on the opposite side of the little river which 

 flows in at the south corner, and devoting the whole of 

 my attention to searching for nests of Little Stints on 

 this, as yet, virgin ground. I struck across the tundra, 

 passed the lakes from whence we believe the little river 

 flows, and on to a low-lying marshy tract studded with 

 little pools of water, and discovered the source of the river, 

 which appears to run underneath the marsh and to be 



•• Quotation from the letter of a friend written from liodo or Dron- 

 tbeim as long ago as 1871 or 1872. 



