392 P. Freuchen. 



certain; musk ox are frequently killed in rutting time by rivals of their 

 own species. A skeleton was found in Adam Bierings Land, with the 

 skull split along the sagittal furrow between the horns, the damage 

 having evidently been occasioned by the force with which a couple of 

 fighting bulls dash against each other {vide infra). The battle is here 

 to the strong, and the weaker falls. This moreover, explains the fact 

 that the leader of a herd may be able to maintain authority as such 

 even after losing the greater portion of its horns. Some degree of skill 

 in fence, besides sheer swiftness and force of weight and bulk is also 

 exhibited, however; we have on several occasions found musk ox with 

 great deep wounds in breast and shoulder, evidently caused by the long, 

 sharply pointed horns, which they use to so good effect against the dogs. 

 It might well be that the wolves would prefer -to wait for the death, or 

 at least disablement, of such a foe before coming to close quarters. The 

 Eskimos assert that the wolves bring down reindeer by biting at the 

 anus until the beast bleeds to death: I should be loth to believe that' 

 this could be done in the case of a musk ox, where the long shaggy hair 

 forms a protection which would be difficult to work through with the 

 teeth unless the victim were already incapable of resistance. 



With regard to the time at which the musk ox first made their 

 appearance in East Greenland, this has long been an open question, 

 and will perhaps never be altogether solved : our expedition has, however, 

 furnished one or two facts of interest in this connection. 



As to how long the Eskimos and the musk ox have lived as neigh- 

 bours in Independence Bay I may mention that among the tent rings 

 which we discovered at either side of the entrance to Jørgen Brønlunds 

 Fjord — places where there is now, at any rate no lack of either musk 

 ox or fjord seal — we found bones of both these animals, and in such 

 quantities as to prove distinctly that both species must have played an 

 important part in the domestic economy of the former inhabitants. I 

 may here refer the reader to Knud Rasmussen's description of the 

 Eskimo remains: it should be noted, however, that these were evidently 

 of far more recent date than all such similar remains as I had previously 

 seen on the Danmark Expedition. The wood, for instance, was found 

 when sawn through to be almost like new a few millimetres from the 

 outer surface. On the other hand, the preserving influence of the chmate, 

 with its slight rainfall, should be borne in mind : Peary's and Astrup's 

 tracks on Navy Chff, for instance, stood there as fresh as though but 

 a few days old. 



In contrast to these fresh bones found among the Eskimo remains, 

 we found at several places in Adam Biering's Land, and also in the Navy 

 Cliff country, skulls of musk ox in a state of advanced disintegration; 

 the horns had disappeared, only the bony core remaining. The teeth, 

 and all the thinner and finer bones had gone, leaving only the thicker 

 and heavier parts. In some cases these skulls were found overgrown 



