VII.] THE NORTHERNMOST BEETLE. 259 



to turn. For here Dr. Kjellman found on a very limited area 

 nearly all the plants of the region. The species which were 

 distinctive of the vegetation here were the following : Saxifraga 

 oppositifolia L., Papavcr nudicaule L., Draha alpina L., 

 Cerastium alpinum L., Stdlaria Edwardsii R. Br., Alsine 

 macrocarpa Fenzl., Aira cmspitosa L., Catabrosa algida (Sol.) Fr., 

 and Alopecurus alpinus Sm. The following plants occurred less 

 frequently: Eritrichium villosum BuNGE, Saxifraga nivalis L., 

 >S'. ccrmia L., S. rivularis L., S. sicUaris L., S. caspifosa L., S. 

 fiageUaris WiLLD., S. scrpyllifolia PllHSH., Cardamine hcllidifolia 

 L., Cochlcaria fencstrata E,. Br., Oxyria digyna (L.) HiLL., Salix 

 polaris Wg., Foa fieo:uosa Wg., and Luzula hyperhorea R. Br. 

 There were thus found in all only twenty-three species of 

 inconsiderable flowering-plants, among them eight species 

 belonging to the Saxifrage family, a sulphur-yellow poppy, 

 commonly cultivated in our gardens, and 

 the exceedingly beautiful, forget-me-not- 

 like Eritrichium. That the vegetation 

 here on the northernmost point of Asia 

 has to contend with a severe climate is 

 sho^vn, among other things, as Dr. Kjell- 

 man has pointed out, by most of the 

 flowering-plants there having a special 

 tendency to form exceedingly compact 

 half-globular tufts. 



The only insects which occurred here in 

 any large number were poduroe, but some 

 flies were also seen, and even a beetle, the 

 before-mentioned Staphylinid. Of birds, 



-, -, r. ^ THE BEETLE LIVING FARTHEST 



there were seen a large number oi sand- to the north. 



pipers, an exceedingly numerous flock Micraij-mma^Dicksoni 



of barnacle geese — evidently migrating to Magnified twelve times. 

 more southerly regions, perhaps from some 



Polar land lying to the north of Cape Chelyuskin — a loom, some 

 kittiwakes and ivory gulls, and remains of owls. Mammalia 

 were represented by the bear already mentioned, and by the 

 reindeer and the lemming, whose traces and dung were seen on 

 the plains. In the sea, a walrus, several rough seals (Phoca 

 hispiida), and two shoals of white whales were seen. 



All rivers were now dried up, but wide, shallow river-beds 

 indicated that during the snow-melting season there was an 

 abundant flow of water. The rush of snow rivulets and the cry 

 of birds then certainly cause an interruption in the desolation 

 and silence which were now spread over the clay beds of the 

 plains, nearly bare of all vegetation. Probably, however, a little 

 farther into the country, in some valley protected from the winds 

 of the Polar Sea, we might find quite different natural condi- 



s 2 



