THE ARCTIC LANDS. 21 



When the soil is moderately dry, the surface is covered by a dense carpet of 

 lichens {Cormcularice), mixed in damper spots with Icelandic moss. In more 

 tenacious soils, other plants flourish, not however to the exclusion of lichens, ex- 

 cept in tracts of meadow ground, which occur in sheltered situations or in the 



COAST OF LABKADOK. 



alluvial inundated flats where tall reed-grasses or dwarf Avillows frequently 

 grow as closely as they can stand. 



It naay easil}- be supposed that the boundary-Une which separates the tnn- 

 dri from the forest zone is both indistinct and irregular. In some parts where 

 the cold sea-winds have a wider range, the barren grounds encroach consider- 



