TO THE ARCTIC. REGIONS. 109 
white hair of the finest texture, and shorter than the 
other. Several of the skulls and tracks of bears 
were also found here, so that we may presume 
they are likewise inhabitants of this land; and on 
the top of many of the dry hillocks which we passed, 
we found numerous burrows, some about the size of 
rabbit holes, and others much smaller; the former 
we supposed to be fox-holes, and the latter those of 
field-mice. That mice are among the animals here is 
beyond a doubt, for we saw a great many of their 
skeletons lying about the holes above mentioned. 
Of the feathered tribe I believe only one species 
was seen, namely, the Ptarmigan, of which seve- 
ral were shot by some of the officers of the Griper ; 
but whilst we were ashore, several large flocks of 
snow-buntings passed the ships, a flock of geese, 
and another of ducks, were also seen coming off 
from the land, most probably commencing their mi- 
gration to a milder climate. 
Along the beach, there were an immense number of 
small shrimps, and various kinds of shells, the latter 
indeed we found abundantly scattered about every 
where as far inland as we went, being, no doubt, as I 
have already observed, carried there by birds, or 
some quadruped that feeds on the animals they con- 
tain. The soil of this land is much superior to any 
that we have yet seen in these regions; along the 
shore indeed, and for a little distance inland, it con- 
sists only of fine sand, but, beyond this, the surface 
is covered with black mould, which, in a temperate 
climate, I have no doubt would be very productive, 
since even here, in the valleys and places where there 
was any moisture, it produced grass of considerable 
