96 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 



has wandered over the mountains of Central Asia, 

 Japan, and North America, Saxifrages, and several 

 other flowering plants were in full bloom. 



On the way from Sarkak to the Settlement of 

 Ritenbenk, on an island off the mainland, we 

 passed near the vertical face of a high cliff known 

 as the Bird Rock. It was nearly midnight in the 

 middle of August. The smooth sea was a rich 

 indigo, and between our boat and the light sky 

 over the horizon was silhouetted a small trading 

 schooner which we had taken in tow. As we ap- 

 proached the Bird Rock, pairs of Razorbills floating 

 on the water became increasingly numerous, 

 always a large and a smaller bird, mothers giving 

 lessons in diving to their inexperienced children. 

 An Eskimo on board the schooner unable, as are 

 the natives generally, to resist the temptation of 

 firing at any wild thing, tried to shoot the swim- 

 ming birds; the mothers sometimes dived to avoid 

 the shot, leaving the young birds to their fate, but 

 usually the maternal instinct prevailed and the 

 older birds with cries of alarm kept by the side of 

 their charges. 



From our first sight of Greenland until we left 

 for Copenhagen the days were always interesting, 

 whether we were slowly travelling from place to 

 place collecting specimens or living at the Arctic 

 Station botanising and geologising in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood, and learning many things 

 about the people and the country from our good 

 friend Morten Porsild, the Director. My first 



