MAMMALS. 49 



served in a similar manner, but sustained quite serious injuries. Great 

 consternation and fear i)revailed among the women and cliildren, and 

 that memorable night, when the nannolces besieged their quiet camp, 

 was long a lively topic of conversation. 



When the Florence took the pack-ice off Cape Mercy, a huge male was 

 suddenly espied alongside, but he did his best to get away as fast as 

 possible ; a boat was lowered and his capture was as devoid of excite- 

 ment as the killing of a sheej) in a barn-yard. We had at this time six- 

 teen Eskimo and thirty dogs on deck, and the greater portion of the 

 meat was utilized as food by one or the other without any symptoms of 

 I)oisoning. During the season that Pagomys fcetidus have their young, 

 the bears begin to wander uj) the fjords in search of them, and are at 

 this time often found a considerable distance from the open water. 



In and about the old stone-hut foundations in the neighborhood of 

 Annanactook I found the remains of bears. There is a story among the 

 Eskimo that the bear, walrus, and hooded seal were once plenty there, 

 but for some cause do not now frequent the locality. A very young cub 

 skin was secured in April by a Shaumeer Eskimo. The vicinity of Cape 

 Mercy is one of the most frequented localities for bears ; here they come 

 down on the pack-ice with the current from the north. Eskimo from 

 the region northward in Cumberland are in the habit of coming here 

 to hunt them. 



2. Vulpes lagopus, Linn^. 



"Toujnmaik," Ciimberlaud Eskimo. 



The Arctic fox is quite common on both sides of Cumberland in all suit- 

 able localities. During the winter they often fare badly, and become quite 

 impudent when pressed by hunger, even coming upon the schooners' 

 decks at night. They were a source of annoyance as well as amusement to 

 us around our observatory. We were not the fortunate possessors of 

 enough glass to let the light in through the wall of snow that surrounded 

 our tent, so we had recourse to oiled sheeting stretched over the aper- 

 tiu'e, borrowing the idea from the Eskimo window of seal intestine. But 

 as we had no dogs about our snow-house, the foxes became so bold 

 during the long cold nights of winter that they often came and sat 

 around the stovepipe that projected through the roof of the hut. Our 

 cloth windows had to be repaired very- often, as they would tear them 

 down and eat them for the oil the cloth contained. It was almost 

 impossible to catch them with a steel trap. I tied the bait underneath 

 the tongue, and carefully j)laced the trap in a little excavation in the 

 Bull. ¥sit. Mus. No. 15 4 



