June 3, 1922] 



NATURE 



703 



the distance is inadvertently given as "94 miles/'" 

 the casual reader might suspect the author of roman- 

 cing ; but no explorer ever recorded his exploits more 

 modestly. In many particulars it is a little difficult 

 to follow the narrative, for the author is frequently 

 obscure and discursive in his general statements, 

 and the translator has been sorely troubled by the 

 rendering of scientific terms. The reader may indeed 

 feel a glow of justifiable satisfaction when he reasons 

 out that the piece of apparatus designated a " cooking 

 barometer " must be neither more nor less than a 

 boiling-point thermometer ! Also it takes time to 

 accustom oneself to the one word " mountain/' applied 

 equally to mean mountain, hill, or knoll. 



One has not to read far, however, before the narrative 

 grips the attention, and the difficulties of style and 

 terminology do not disguise the fact that Rasmussen 

 travelled with the inherited skill and resourcefulness 

 of the Eskimo and the insight of a man of science. 



A series of helpful sketch-maps for each section of 

 the journey is provided as well as an excellent general 

 map. The route of the expedition ran north through 

 Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall 

 Basin, and Robeson Channel on the sea-ice or the 

 ice-foot, closely following the Greenland coast, stopping 

 to hunt and gorge on seals, reindeer, musk-oxen, hares, 

 or ptarmigan where game abounded, pushing forward 

 desperately over the barren country, where the dogs 

 had to be fed on their weakest comrades. At length 

 on June 21, 191 7, they reached the entrance to De 

 Long Fjord in 83° N. and faced the problem of the 

 return. The easy travelling of spring was past. It 

 was impossible to move quickly over the thawing 

 sea-ice ; the sledges could not be dragged across the 

 bare, stony coastlands with their sparse growth of 

 the brilliant Arctic flora, and it was necessary to find 

 a way up to the distant inland ice and to lay in a 

 store of food for the long march over the empty snow- 

 fields. A find of 24 tins, each containing 9 lb. of New 

 Zealand mutton, left by the Nares expedition in 1875, 

 before any of Rasmussen's party was born, had given 

 occasion to much feasting on the way north, for the 

 meat was as good after 42 years as if freshly tinned. 

 One cannot help thinking that such a windfall of 

 portable food might have been saved for the inland- 

 ice journey ; but the Eskimo rule of unlimited feeding 

 when food is available appears to have been faithfully 

 .carried out. 



It was the end of July before the party had got back 

 to St. George's Fjord in 82° N. with all the fresh meat 

 they could collect, and on August 4 they succeeded in 

 ascending the glacier at the head of the fjord on to 

 the inland-ice, with only 17 dogs remaining. Their 

 supplies allowed only 12 days for making the journey 

 NO. 2744, VOL. 109] 



to Cape Agassiz, south of the Humboldt Glacier. There 

 they hoped to replenish their food supplies by hunting. 

 One of the Eskimos had been lost in St. George's 

 Fjord, they were all weak, and Wulff was very ill. 

 It was 20 days before they reached the sea in a starving 

 condition, all the dogs having been eaten. Rasmussen, 

 with the strongest Eskimo, left the others and hurried 

 southward along the coast, but by the time he met 

 the native hunters and could send back supplies, 

 Wulfi had died. It is impossible to read of the hard- 

 ships all had undergone without realising that the 

 dangers of following Eskimo practice are very nearly 

 equal to the advantages. It was October 22, 191 7, 

 when the survivors returned to Thule. 



The scientific results of the expedition were sub- 

 stantial, and may to some extent be gathered from 

 the narrative and the appendices. The map has been 

 rectified in many particulars and the outlines of several 

 fjords laid down for the first time. The extent of the 

 ice-free land where life is possible has also been mapped 

 in considerable detail. This lies between the sea-ice 

 which never leaves the coast and the inland-ice which 

 occupies the high land of the interior. The geology 

 has been studied, and Koch is of opinion that the 

 folded mountain system of the extreme north of Green- 

 land is an extension of the Caledonian fold, which 

 curves westward from Norway through Spitsbergen 

 and continues westward of Greenland into Grinnell 

 Land. Some interesting notes on air temperature are 

 also given. 



Dr. Wulff left valuable notes on the flora, ^including 

 the observation that flowers formed one summer 

 survived the cold of winter and matured in the second 

 summer. The habits of the musk-ox are further 

 elucidated and illustrated by excellent photographs, 

 while there are many notes on insect life, the most 

 curious being the appearance of enormous swarms 

 of bluebottles, which make it almost impossible to 

 keep meat killed in summer for more than a day or 

 two in 82° N. The most important result, however, 

 is the light thrown on the migrations of the Eskimo. 

 Mr. Rasmussen has satisfied himself that they came 

 from America, passed through Ellesmere Land, crossed 

 Smith Sound, and moved down the west coast of 

 Greenland, round Cape Farewell, and up the east 

 coast. He is certain that they could not have reached 

 the east coast by the shorter route along the north 

 coast of Peary Land, which he thinks was never in- 

 habited, and can never support human life. 



The author refers in terms of generous appreciation 

 to his predecessors of all nationalities, and amongst 

 the most interesting illustrations are facsimiles of the 

 letters deposited in cairns by parties of the Nares and 

 .Greely expeditions. The English version of the book 



