220 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Sound stretches far to the horizon at the north; the head-hne of Cape 

 Alexander is visible in the distance. The rocks at the right are charac- 

 teristic of the west coast of Greenland at this latitude, 76° N. 



In the spring before the ice breaks up, the Innuits congregate at 

 Peterawik for walrus hunting. They build their snow igloos on the ice 

 foot, that portion of the sea-ice bordering the land. Here they remain 

 hunting, frolicking and feasting in their joyous fashion, until the sun's 

 warmth has broken up the ice. Then they travel southward, still over 

 the ice, some to the settlements of Inglefield Gulf and others even as far 

 as Cape York. 



The West Wall. 



The First or Northern Panel — Reindeer Hunting in Summer. 



The paintings on the west wall represent Eskimo life during the 

 long Arctic day. 



In the middle foreground of the northern panel a hunter, crouching 

 at the top of a rocky prominence, is in the act of drawing his bow of 

 bone and sinew upon a white reindeer,^ which has espied too late some- 

 thing to excite its curiosity. In the middle distance at the extreme right, 

 is the continuation of the large iceberg of the central panel of the north 

 wall. Icebergs in the Arctic regions are frequenUy from 150 to 300 feet 

 in height, measure five to seven times this distance below the surface of 

 the sea, and sometimes have a length of three miles. Beyond the ice- 

 berg in the distance is a glacier flowing down from the great ice " Sahara " 

 in the interior of Greenland, while to the left is a dark rocky portion of 

 the submerged land. 



In the immediate foreground are purple flowers {Epilobium lati- 

 folium) which nestle in pockets in the rocks. The middle foreground is 

 covered by stunted grass and mosses, especially by reindeer moss on 

 which the deer are feeding. Many flowers bloom in Greenland and other 

 polar lands during the short summer, notably members of the mustard 

 family, and of the pink, rose, saxifrage and grass families. There is one 

 species of sedge known; willows and birches are found, although grow- 

 ing only two to three inches in height; while daisies, buttercups, yellow 

 poppies, harebells, dandelions, gentians and primroses cover the ground 

 in many places. 



^ A white caribou {Rangifer pearyi Allen) discovered by Peary in 1902 in Elles- 

 mere Land near Lake Hazen, latitude 82° N. 



