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swimming black birds. It is only the se.'i-birds which are of 

 economical importance to the Eskimos; the ptarmigan is only 

 hunted and eaten in times of want; the raven, on the other 

 liand , which also occurs here, plays the part oF a mystic 

 messenger in their tradition and folk-lore. 



As a consequence of this bird-life, the soil on the south- 

 ern slopes is naturally, owing to the good manuring, very 

 fertile, and we thus find at these places a comparatively luxur- 

 iant vegetation, consisting mainly of grass. And when we 

 find a specially abundant vegetation in these regions , we may 

 be sure in most cases, that it has developed just at one of 

 these bird-grounds with southerly exposure or round an old 

 settlement when- the soil lias been manured by blubber and 

 offal. 



The vegetation leads to a considerable wealth of polar 

 hares, and tlie reindeer also finds here a good part of its 

 food in summer when iL comes down from the inner hilly 

 regions. Further, the presence of the birds and hares means 

 a livelihood for a large number of foxes, especially of the blue 

 arctic fox. It seems to be a rule, that most of the blue foxes 

 are met with east of Smith Sound, whilst the white fox is 

 more common on Ellesmere Land. It is quite possible, that 

 this stands in connection with the difference in the food con- 

 ditions, the Greenland side having large quantities of birds, 

 whereas on Ellesmere Land the principal food of the fox is of 

 quite a different kind. Naturally the hares, reindeer and foxes 

 are not exclusively restricted to the districts frequented by the 

 birds, but occur everywhere on the narrow strips of ice-free 

 land between the coast and the inland ice; they may even 

 penetrate in on the Nunataks. A specially rich district for the 

 packs of reindeer is the inner parts round Olriks Fjord, where 

 the most extensive stretches of lichen vegetation are found. 



These connected conditions have the result, that the coast 

 merttioned has a better vegetation and a richer animal-life than 



