THE NORTH POLAR BASIN. 383 



in .saying that the froist penetrates here to an averaj^e of 5 feet, except 

 when we have had a great depth of snow in the beginning of winter, 

 iu wlueh case it does not penetrate nearly so far." 



THE .STEri'E REGIONS. 



It is not so easy to exphiin the boundary line between the forest and 

 the steppe. There are tw^o great step])e regions in the Pohir Basin, 

 one in Asia and the other in America. The great Barabinski Steppe 

 in southwest Siberia stretches witli but sliglit interruptions across 

 southern Eu^sia into Bulgaria. The great prairie region of JNIinnesota 

 and INIanitoba reaches the jMcKenzie Basin, and outlying plains are 

 found almost up to the Great Slave Lake. The cause of the treeless 

 condition of the steppes or juaiiies has giAcn rise to much controversy. 

 My own experience in Siberia convinced me that the forests were rocky 

 and the steppes covered with a deep layer of loose earth, and I came 

 to the conclusion that on the rocky ground the roots of the trees were 

 able to establish themselves firmly so as to defy the strongest gales, 

 which tore them np when they Avere planted iu light soil. Other trav- 

 ellers have formed other opinions. Some suppose that the })rairies were 

 once covered with trees, which have been gradually destroyed by fires. 

 Others suggest that the earth on the treeless plains contains too nuich 

 salt or too little organic matter to be favorable to the growth of trees. 

 No one, so far as I know^, has suggested a climatic explanation of the 

 circumstance. Want of drainage ma}^ i)roduce a swamp and the defi- 

 ciency of rainfall may cause a desert, both conditions being fatal to 

 forest growth, but no one can mistake either of these treeless districts 

 for a steppe or prairie. 



ARCTIC ANTHROP()L(KIY. 



The anthropology of the Polar Basin presents many i)oints of inter- 

 est. On the American coasts of the Arctic Ocean the Eskimo lives a 

 very similar life to the Lap}) in Norway and the Samoyede in the tun- 

 dras of Siberia. These races of men resemble each other very much 

 in their personal appearance, and still more so in their habits. Their 

 straight black hair, with little or no beard, their dark and obliquely 

 set eyes, their high cheek bones and flat noses, and their small hands 

 and ieet, testify to their Mongoloid origin. They are all indebted to 

 the reindeer for some of theii- winter dress and for much of their food, 

 and they all have dogs; but the Eskimo travels only with dogs, and 

 the Lapp only with reindeer, whilst the Samoyede uses both dog 

 sledges and reindeer sledges. They all lead a nomadic life, trapping 

 fur-bearuig animals in w'inter and fishing in summer; they resemble 

 each other in many other customs and beliefs, but they are neverthe- 

 less supposed to have emigrated to the Arctic regions from independ- 

 ent sources, and many characters in which they resemble each other 

 are supposed to have beeu inde])endently acquired. 



