THE GREENLAND HARE. 483 



island of Jan Mayen, lying within the Arctic Circle. In 

 southern latitudes they rarely appear. When dead they 

 sink very quickly. 



To the Esquimaux, the seal and walrus are of universal 

 utility. They cut straps out of their skin, make dresses, 

 finish their boats, cover the floors and walls of their 

 snow-huts ; their bones they use for the repair of their 

 sledges and weapons, their fat as fuel, and their flesh for 

 food : in a word, where Esquimaux exist, seal and walrus 

 are eaten. 



The European hare is remarkable for its long and 

 rapid hasty flight, and its timidity. The Greenland hare 

 (Lepus glacialis), on the contrary, sits as if nailed down in 

 its rocky refuge, however near the hunter may pass to him. 

 Sometimes one sees the mountain slopes dotted with white 

 spots, which from their motionlessness might be taken 

 for snow ; but they are only white hares. They are 

 about the size of our own hares ; but their flesh, like that 

 of the Alpine hare, is insipid. Hare-hunting in Green- 

 land often gives rise to the drollest scenes. Their hear- 

 ing appears to be even weaker than their sight. Payer 

 once stood near a hare, which was startled by repeated 

 firing, but had confined its flight to a few Steps. The 

 creature was nibbling the moss quietly. Payer took out 

 his sketch-book, and drew it in all the different positions 

 which, in its uneasiness at the conversation and laughter 

 of his companions, it assumed. 



The peculiar species of wolf met with in other Arctic 

 neighbourhoods is not found in East Greenland ; neither 

 is the wolf- like dog, now dying out from disease, and upon 

 which the existence of the Esquimaux in East Greenland 

 is completely dependent. 



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