GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



followed the foot of the beautiful sandstone mountains which, 

 with flaming red colours, fresh as ruddy cheeks against the 

 white snow, flanked our way. Out to seaward of us were the 

 pressed-up ice-floes of Kane Basin, where deejpjnow made_bad 

 travelling, and, as we passed above it, raised beyond all its 

 difficulties on the chaussee of the tidal waters, wantonly we 

 cracked our whips at all this devilment which we had robbed 

 of all opportunity to trip us up and hinder our quick progress. 

 Washington Land could already be discerned ahead. Every- 

 where was April's sun and high spirits. 



At Cape Taney we passed four large tower-traps and six 

 ordinary fox-traps ; the former are rather common here but 

 unknown in the rest of western Greenland. 



A tower-trap is about 170 centimetres high, built in the 

 form of a beacon ; the Eskimos call it Uvdlisat, which signifies 

 a trap which may be left for several days without inspection. 

 The foxes are caught in the following manner : Rotten seals 

 are put at the bottom of the hollow stone beacon, which is built 

 in such a way that it is roomy at the base and very narrow 

 towards the top. So as not to arouse the suspicions of the fox, 

 the opening is covered with willow branches smeared with 

 blood. When a fox jumps down into a trap it cannot get up 

 again ; and in the course of a few days several foxes may be 

 caught in the same trap. 



At Marshall Bay we divided into two parties, so that eleven 

 sledges, with Dr. Wulff as leader, drove right out on the broad 

 bay where travelling was easiest, while Koch and I with two 

 other sledges drove inland by the head of the bay looking for 

 Eskimo ruins. For our guide we had the great Tornge, who 

 had lived here himself in 1916. His longing for reindeer- 

 hunting had lured him to these northern parts. Next to bear- 

 hunting, reindeer-hunting is the most exciting game an Eskimo 

 knows. It is considered more "swell" to catch a bear, but 

 otherwise the hunting of reindeer is without comparison the 

 most elegant. Wild reindeer are very shy, and to get within 

 shooting distance not only skill and cunning is required but also 

 an incredible amount of endurance. They provide both tender 

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