484 THE GERMAN ARCTIC EXREDITION. 



Brown, in his Fauna of Greenland, believes that the , 

 dogs brought by Torell from Greenland to Spitzbergen 

 in 1861, to work the sledges (a plan frustrated by the sea 

 being found open), would increase rapidly, and return to 

 the original wolf-type. 



They are also unknown in the north of Europe, and 

 like the ice-bear, fox, and reindeer, are peculiar to the 

 Arctic Circle. 



The remaining Fauna of this country — lemmings, 

 butterflies, a species of bee, spiders, and gnats (the latter 

 at certain times of the year, and in particular neighbour- 

 hoods, being a perfect plague), all possess a high zoo- 

 logical interest ; but they lie beyond the descriptive limits 

 of a Greenland hunt. 



Interesting, too, is the more or less periodical return 

 oi a large number of birds which animate the Arctic 

 world ; some for only the summer weeks, and some for 

 the whole year, such as ptarmigan and ravens (both of 

 which remain through the winter) ; a number of scream- 

 ing birds — most of which are species of gulls distinguished 

 by their greediness — such as the auks, the divers, and 

 above all, the eider ducks. These cling like so many 

 white spots to the clefted rock, screaming to each other 

 or sitting in a circle on the edge of a floe. 



A short early ice-covering of the coast water, indicating 

 the close of a fleeting summer, has many embarrassments 

 for them : and soon the far greater part accept the signal 

 for emigration to southern regions. 



The west coast of Greenland is much richer in birds 

 than the east coast. Our share was therefore propor- 

 tionately small. The flesh of Arctic birds 1ms, doubtless 

 owing to the nature of their food, a strong taste of train-oil. 



