POLAR REGIONS. 



Polar land about the micklle of October. At the lime of 



" 3n *' Captain Parry's wintering, all the quadrupeds, excepting 



'*- v*^-J \v..lvi-s and foxes, had rt-tired to the southward before 



the end of the same month. The birds returned in 



inning of June, and hares, rein-deer, &c. a 



little before the middle of the month. 



Nature, which has so universally fitted the animal 

 creation for their various circumstances, has, in the 

 case of the Arctic animals, given them a power of re- 

 sisting the severities of the climate beyond what either 

 occurs in, or is needed by, the species of warmer coun- 

 tries. Thus the birds are clothed so thickly with feathers 

 that, in some of the larger species, they are impenetra- 

 te to small shot from a fowling-piece, if received in 

 front; and to this warm coating is added a thick bed 

 of down beneath the feathers. The quadrupeds have 

 also their defence. The bear, besides his thick warm 

 fur, has a layer of fat spread over the whole of his 

 body, which, from its bad conducting power of heat, 

 is a powerful defence against the cold. The seals and 

 walruses have also a similar protection ; and all the 

 whale tribe have a still more abundant superstratum of 

 fat, which enables them, while living in an element at 

 the freezing temperature, to preserve in their bodies a 

 uniform warmth, equal to 100 of Fahrenheit's scale. 



All the quadrupeds that remain throughout the win 

 ter in these regions, probably, are subject either to hy- 

 bernation, or to what has been denominated a state of 

 quiescence*, during the absence of the sun. Though an 

 occasional bear is known to stroll from his den in the 

 winter, the species in general, like the brown bear, 

 remain in a quiescent state. 



What may be the state of the cetaceous animals in 

 the winter season, that remain in this region, is not 

 known. In the case of a party that wintered in Jan 

 Mayen, in the year 1633-4, it was observed, that the 

 JL mysticetus began to appear about the coasts in 

 March. Some persons are of opinion that these also 

 hybernate, lying in a state of repose beneath the ice, 

 for considerable intervals together. 



These animals, of which we have hitherto merely 

 spoken en passant, deserve more particular consider, 

 ation. One species, the mysticetus, is the principal ob- 

 ject of British commerce within the Arctic regions ; in 

 the fishery of which we now annually employ 140 or 

 150 ships, averaging upwards of 300 tons burden. 

 The annual produce of this fishery may, on an average 

 of ten years, ending with 1823, be stated at 1200 

 whales, producing 13,500 tuns of oil, and 6750 tons of 

 whalebone, of the mean value of 400,000, or half a 

 million sterling. The importance of this produce con- 

 sists in the circumstance, that it is all derived from the 

 sea without any first cost or expenses (a small proportion 

 in hemp, &c. excepted) but such as are laid out on ar- 

 ticles of British growth and fabrication. Hence the 

 whole annual income from the fishery may be considered 

 as a clear accession to the wealth of the nation. And, 

 in addition to this consideration, the trade employs a 

 number of persons of various occupations, and trains 

 up a large number of hardy seamen, to the great be- 

 nefit of our commerce in peace, and applicable to the 

 defence of our country in time of war. 



But as this interesting branch of our commerce is 

 discussed and described in our article WHALE-FISHERY, 

 and as the object of the fishery, the capture of the 

 Bolcena myslicetus, or Greenland whale, is also describ- 

 ed under our article CETOLOOV, it becomes unnecessary 

 to enlarge on these subjects in this place. 



SBCT. VIII Inhabitants l'lu 



THE pliancy of the human frame to circumstance* of B*!*""* 

 climate and quality of food, it greater, perhaps, than V ^"V"^'' 

 that of any other of the animal creation. While the ! [ 

 animal kingdom, in general, it distributed according to ** 

 climate, and particular genera restricted to certain tem- 

 peratures or localities, removed from which many of 

 them would perish, the human race possesses such su- 

 perior pliancy as to be able to exist in all climate*, from 

 the severe frosts of the Arctic regions to the high tem- 

 perature of the torrid zone. And an almost equal 

 capability of conforming to peculiar qualities of food, it 

 also possessed by the race of man. While, on the one 

 hand, some animals feed entirely on vegetable, or solely 

 on animal food; on the other hand, our species can sub- 

 sist not only on the greatest variety of animal and ve- 

 getable substances, or on an admixture of both, which is 

 the most usual nourishment ; but it is capable of living 

 entirely upon vegetable products, or solely upon animal 

 food ; and under each circumstance of attaining almost 

 an equal degree of hardihood and muscular power. 

 Thus we find the Irish peasant, who often subsists al- 

 most entirely on potatoes, and the Highlander, whose 

 food is almost confined to oatmeal and barley, equally 

 hardy and muscular, and perhaps more so, than the 

 English peasant or manufacturer, who believes he could 

 not exist without a large share of animal food. 



Where the food is confined to the produce of one of 

 the two kingdoms from which our aliment is derived, 

 we find the vegetable kingdom most generally to afford 

 the necessary supplies in almost all countries situated 

 in warm or temperate climates. But the peculiarity, as 

 respects an entire subsistence on animal food, is perhaps 

 confined to the Arctic portions of the globe. 



The inhabitants of the Arctic regions are not numer- 

 ous. They, however, consist of various nations, among 

 which there is a considerable dissimilarity of habits and 

 pursuits. We shall conclude this article by a few ob- 

 servations on these people ; commencing with 



I. The Arctic Inhabitants of Europe. The origin of Arctic ir- 

 the present race of Europeans may undoubtedly be habitant* 

 traced to the central regions of Asia. Tradition, phi- of Europe, 

 lology t, history, and revelation, all combine in showing 

 that country to have been the cradle of the human race, 

 though the periods of the emigrations are veiled in the 

 deepest obscurity. The earliest inhabitants of Europe 

 would appear to have been tribes of Celtae and Finni. 

 The former appear at a very remote period to have 

 penetrated to the west of Europe ; and, at the dawn of 

 history, we find them in possession of Gaul and Britain ; 

 and the Finni occupying countries far to the north of 

 the Euxine. From these possessions the latter appear 

 to have been forced by the subsequent irruptions of the 

 Sauromatie and Teutones. 



The Sauromatae, or Sclavi, seem to have been tribes 

 from Media, or northern Persia, who passed either by 

 the defiles of the Caucasus, or by coasting the shores of 

 the Caspian, and established themselves on the banks 

 of the Tanais. For some centuries they appear to hare 

 remained on the northern shores of the Euxine. Im- 

 pelled by other roving tribes, they took possession of 

 the Carpathian mountains ; and, extending themselves 

 over the woods and marshes of Sarmatia, became the 

 ancestors of the present race of Poles and Russians, 

 Vands and Bohemians. By them the Finni were 

 forced northward, and were thus the earliest inhabitants 

 of the Scandinavian peninsula, the shores of the White 

 Sea, and the northern coasts of the Russian empire. 



* Dr. Fleming's PhUotophy of Zoology, vol. ii. p. 80. f See Dr. Murrey's able work on the Origin qf European Langnagtt. 



