42 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



and it was here musk-oxen were often to be 

 found. The bottom of the valley was swampy, 

 and we were compelled to scale the basalt in 

 order to avoid sinking to our knees. Anemones, 

 white and yellow, and small rose-coloured 

 flowers grew in abundance. Some white heather 

 flourished, and there was in abundance gnarled 

 and stunted willows whose long flowers were full 

 of a cotton-like substance. Fragments of quartz 

 and a few crystals sparkled at the bottom of 

 the basalt hollows. 



A little dog followed us, jumping up at me 

 in its delight on seeing a new arrival. The poor 

 beast perhaps thought it was to accompany us 

 when we left the island where it had passed so 

 many lonely and uninteresting months. 



On an elevation we discovered a trap similar 

 to those we had seen at Jan May en. There 

 were many large wolf traps here also, but they 

 had proved useless for their destined purpose. 

 Wolves will not approach a trap and hunters 

 can only shoot them. 



Mounting by a very steep pass, we gained at 

 last the plateau which dominated the surround- 

 ing valleys. The panorama was superb. From 

 Walrus Island to the northern bay of Sabine 

 Island, the world lay before us like a relief map. 

 The fjord separating Sabine Island from the 



