18 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



w hicli ;iri' wiiitcr-l-ouiul during the greater part of the year, he is generally a 

 mere wanderer <)\er its surface — a iiunter, a lishernian, or a herdsman — and 

 liiit few smnll scttlrnu'iits, separated from each other by immense deserts, 

 give pnx.'t of ills lia\ing made sumc weak atteiiqits to establisli a footing. 



It is (lillicultto detenuiiu' with ])recisioii tlie hmits of the Arctic lands, since 

 many countries situateil as low as latitude G0° or even 50°, such as South 

 (ireenland, Lahratloi-, Alaska, Kamchatka, or the country about Lake Baikal, 

 liave in tluir climate and jiruductioiis a decidedly Arctic character, while others 

 iif a far more northern position, such as the coast of Norway, enjoy even in 

 winter a I'emarkably mild temperature. But they are naturally divided into 

 two j)rinei})al and well-marked zones — that of the forests, and that of the tree- 

 less wastes. 









( 



INDIAN SUMMEU ENCAMPMENT, ALASKA. 



The latter, comprising the islands within the Arctic Circle, foi'm a belt, more 

 or less broad, bounded by the continental sliores of the North Polar seas, and 

 gradually merging toward the south into the forest-region, which encircles 

 them with a garland of evergreen coniferaj. This treeless zone bears the 

 name of the "barren grounds," or the " barrens," in North America, and of 

 "tundri" in Siberia and European Russia. Its want of trees is caused not 

 so nnu-h by its liigh northern latitude as by the cold sea-winds Avhich sweep 

 tuKhecked over the islands or the flat coast-lands of the Polar Ocean, and 

 for miles and miles compel even the liardiest plant to crouch before the blast 

 and creep along the ground. 



Nothing can be more melancholy than the aspect of the boundless morasses 

 or arid wastes of the tundri. Dingy mosses and gray lichens form the chief 



^ik 



