8o A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 



structure of the hill-tops on the two sides of the 

 strait shows that the deep channel of the Vaigat has 

 in comparatively recent times been cut through a 

 vast plateau; initiated by some fracture in the earth's 

 crust the channel was deepened and broadened 

 by the action of denuding agents. The water is 

 sprinkled with icebergs of all shapes and sizes, 

 their bright whiteness contrasting with the dark 

 blue slopes of the hills beyond which are relieved 

 by the shining ice-covered summits and the bands 

 of snow on the ledges of the lava and ash. Fogs 

 in the Vaigat are fairly common. On one occasion 

 looking down from the mountains of the peninsula 

 the more distant part of the Vaigat was seen to be 

 filled by a slowly advancing flood of white clouds, 

 which gradually obliterated the icebergs and the 

 bases of the cliffs until eventually the whole of the 

 water and the lower ground was submerged and 

 the rolling surface of the invading mist was 

 illuminated above by a bright blue sky. 



It was a comparatively rare event to see any 

 signs of human life as we travelled along the 

 Vaigat, but occasionally we met a solitary kayaker 

 or an umyak. One evening a sturdy little Eskimo 

 returning from hunting, the dead body of a seal 

 made fast to the side of the kayak, paddled to our 

 motor-boat. The square piece of white cloth at the 

 bow of the kayak (Fig. 20) is a device employed 

 when hunting to make the seal believe that the 

 kayak is a piece of ice : a white cap worn by the 

 hunter adds to the deception. We were assured 

 that Polar bears when stalking seals sometimes 



