277 



The lack of trees has been of vital importance for human 

 hfe on Smith Sound, and in earher times this hick was even 

 one of tlie main reasons why they could not build boats. The 

 conditions are different here from those in South Greenland, 

 from Egedesminde and southwards, where the coast received 

 plenty of drift-wood. Extremely little of this occurs so far to 

 the north, even though small quantities certainly drift in fairly 

 regularly. HalP found a piece of drift-wood which was about 

 I m long as far north as Kennedy Channel, and another some- 

 what shorter piece; and Greely^ gives a list of the drift-wood 

 collected on his expedition, consisting almost entirely of willow, 

 pine and cedar. 



Attention has only been paid hitherto to the more restricted 

 region of the Polar Eskimos from Cape York to Smith Sound ; 

 this is the district where they have their fixed winter dwellings 

 and where they pass all the dark periods, as well as the times 

 of leisure and scarcity of food. The place is well-marked off 

 from nature's side. Smith Sound is a little over 50 km broad 

 at its narrowest part and in the winter is covered by a solid 

 layer of ice ; according to the Eskimos it can be crossed at 

 this time not only by the polar bears, foxes, reindeer and 

 hares, but also by the musk-ox and the polar wolves. In spite 

 of this, the two last-mentioned animals do not occur at Ingle- 

 field Gulf and Wolstenholm Sound. The musk-ox is said never 

 to have been seen south of Cape Alexander; but the Polar 

 Eskimos have been from early times accustomed to cross over 

 Smith Sound and hunt them on the east coast of Ellesmere 

 Land about Bache Peninsula. A few polar wolves are some- 

 limes met with at intervals of some years, probably roving 

 animals which have lost their way south of Cape Alexander. 



The different occurrence of the two kinds of foxes on the 



^ E. Bessels: Die ameiikaiiische Nordpol-Kxpedition. Leipzig 1879, p. 296. 

 - A. W. Greely: Report on the Proceedings of the U. S. Expedition to Lady 

 Bay, Grinnell Land. Washington 1888. Vol. I, pp. 313 and ;)3'4. 



