112 THE AECTIC FOX. 



accompanied the Arctic Expedition undertaken in 1875, under Captain 

 G. S. Nares, R.N. From his account of the Mammalia of North 

 Greenland and Grinnell Land, we learn * that the Arctic Fox was 

 found to decrease in numbers up Smith's Sound. Its footprints were 

 seen in the snow at Floe-berg Beach. From Dumbbell Harbour 

 (some miles further north) an expedition was made to the Uplands 

 after big game. Having ascended eight hundred feet, the party 

 became enveloped in snow and mist. " All of a sudden," he tells us, 

 " we were startled by the sharp bark of a Fox. More than a year had 

 elapsed since we had heard such a sound. It seemed very close to us, 

 and as the fog lifted we saw the animal standing on a little hill of 

 piled-up rocks that rose like an islet from the plateau. Separating, we 

 approached the Fox from opposite directions. Parr fired at it, when 

 it dropped down, and crawled below some heavy rocks : out rushed 

 the female from its lair, and we secured her." .... " As we rested 

 there, many little Lemmings popped up from their holes, and undis- 

 mayed by our presence, commenced feeding on plants. We noticed 

 that many dead Lemmings were scattered around. In every case they 

 had been killed in the same manner, the sharp canine teeth of the 

 Foxes had penetrated the brain." ... " Then to our surprise we dis- 

 covered numerous deposits of dead Lemmings. In one out-of-the-way 

 corner, under a rock, we pulled out a heap of over fifty dead Lemmings. 

 We disturbed numerous ' caches ' of twenty and thirty, and the ground 

 was honeycombed with holes which each contained several bodies of 

 these little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over them. 

 In one hole we found the major part of a hare carefully hidden away." 

 It was observed by this author that the flora in the neighbourhood of 

 the spots where he found these animals was wonderfully rich, the soil 

 having thus been fertilized. He adds : " It is a very beautiful 

 arrangement that the increased flora induced by the presence of the 

 Foxes should be the means of attracting and sustaining the Lemmings 

 in the immediate vicinity of the Foxes' den." The Arctic Fox may be 



* See 'The Zoologist ' (3rd series), vol. i. p. 318 (1877). 



