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ment Umanark on the soiitli side of Wolstenholm Sound, I have 

 myself seen how the sea is eating away the low, grass-covered 

 coastal land ; houses can be seen there which have been dwelt 

 in within the memory of those now living, but there founda- 

 tions have now been half carried away by the waves. Whether 

 the ground has sunk before the foundations were carried aAvay, 

 I cannot definitely determine, though it seems most probable. 



It is not my intention to give here a complete description 

 of the geology of the region dealt with, its climate, animal 

 and plant life. I need only mention the conditions which are 

 of importante for the Eskimo culture, that is, of anthropo- 

 geographical interest. Most of tliese conditions have already 

 been mentioned and only a few additional remarks need be 

 made. 



In earlier times the Polar Eskimos obtained materials from 

 the ground for their stone-knives and stone-axes and even on 

 Peary's and Astrup's first visit these had not quite disappeared. 

 Slate has at any rate been used for such women's knives (Clo), 

 which were employed for scraping the blubber on the inner 

 side of seid-skin. As mentioned earlier, Ross narrates that 

 when he met the Polar Eskimos at Cape York in 1818, he found 

 in their possession rude knives and harpoon points with cutting 

 edges of meteoric iron. So far as he conld understand from the 

 explanations of the Eskimos, this iron came from an "iron- 

 mountain" on Melville Bay, north of Bushnan Island. The 

 place was found in the spring of 1894 by Peary by the help 

 of an Eskimo, who knew both the place where it occurred and 

 also the use of this natural iron , which is really of meteoric 

 origin in contrast to the Disko iron, which was originally deposited 

 in the basalt. Peary thus describes how the Eskimo found the 

 place: "Kicking aside the snow, he exposed more pieces, 

 saying this was a pile of the stones used in pounding frag- 

 ments from the "iron-mountain". He then indicated a spot 

 four or five feet distant as the location of the long-sought 



