300 Chr. Bendix Thostrui» 



vegetation, which reaches from Sælsøen to Rypefjeldet. I imagine 

 that the reindeer and musk-ox herds have followed this valley in 

 their wanderings. Now only birds, hares, lemmings and foxes occur. 

 The south-east and south slopes of Brj'stet are well covered with 

 vegetation. Between Brystet and Rypefjeldet and further to the east 

 of the latter runs a river — Gravelven — which in the beginning 

 of summer, towards the end of the period when the snow is melting, 

 runs down in such a flood that it is unpleasant to pass. 



The winter-houses lie in a western and an eastern group. The 

 western winter-houses are in a corner between the cliffs, in good 

 shelter from winds from the S. W. through W. and N. to N. N. E. 

 To the east and south the surrounding country slopes evenly down- 

 wards to the sea; to the west and north the land rises more steeply. 

 The shore off the winter-houses though not quite low can yet be 

 traversed with dog-sledges. More to the east — betw^een the two 

 groups of houses — the shore is low and gravelly. From this a 

 low ridge runs a little way inwards and at the eastern end of this 

 ridge is the eastern group of winter-houses. Behind these winter- 

 houses the land rises evenly up towards Rypefjeldet. The ground 

 is clay, covered with a mixture of earth and beach-gravel with 

 abundant vegetation. The whole of the stretch along the foot of 

 Rypefjeldet, between the 2 groups of houses, has mostly the character 

 of a bog sloping towards the sea, with many running water-courses, 

 which are constantly fed from the snow lying on the slopes of 

 Rypefjeldet. The stretches of bog are broken here and there by a 

 small pool of water, a bank of stones or gravel lying a little higher, 

 or a rocky ridge, which often runs right out to the shore. The 

 western houses were found near one of these. One of the gravel 

 banks between the 2 groups of houses leads right out to the beach 

 and ends here in a quite low, projecting point, ca. 200 meters broad 

 and ca. 100 meters long; this was used as a tenting-ground. West 

 of the gravel bank the hilly ground again projects and forms a 

 small rocky point on the coast-line between the low point and the 

 western winter-houses. On this rocky point we found larger, well- 

 built, permanent meat-depots and above them another tenting- 

 ground with tent-rings, shelters and a trap. Between this point and 

 the westernmost houses there has not been sufficient room for the 

 many small w^ater-courses, and these have combined to a fairly 

 large brook. 



Further west the shore bends to the north and becomes very 

 steep. Here we found several traps on Rypefjeldet itself, high up 

 and lying singly at some distance from each other. The traps 

 occurred right round the hill. 



