GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



A distribution of plants peculiar to high Arctic regions is the so-called 

 " chequer-ground." When the snow melts, the loose, flat ground will in 

 several places turn to a porridge of sodden sand and clay. When this por- 

 ridge freezes or is dried up, cracks will, according to physical laws, be formed 

 in it, so that it becomes, as it were, divided up into a lot of many-sided little 

 spaces framed in the network of the cracks. This structure may keep its form 

 for years, and in this case the cracks will become deeper. When the plants 

 invade this ground they generally settle in the cracks, the seeds being blown 

 there by the wind, the plants finding there the necessary shelter. In this 

 way the network of the cracks becomes covered with plants, whilst the 

 "chequers" themselves remain bare. This chequer-ground is, according to 

 Wulff's diaries, very common on the north coast of Greenland. 



FAUNA 



When we consider how scanty is the vegetation, it is really surprising that 

 animal life on the north coast of Greenland is so rich, and especially that so 

 many large animals are to be found. Much has been told of these animals in 

 Knud Rasmussen's narrative, as they were of vital importance to the expedition. 



If we keep to the land animals and consider especially the larger of them — 

 i.e., mammals and birds — it would seem natural to divide them into her- 

 bivorous and carnivorous animals. 



Among the herbivorous the musk-ox is the foremost. The expedition 

 depended chiefly upon this animal for its food, and it was mainly due to the 

 fact that musk-ox was found only occasionally on the north coast, and in a 

 considerable number only in one place (in one fjord), that men and dogs 

 suffered so much from hunger. Why the musk-ox preferred this one place 

 we do not know. The vegetation was no more vigorous in the musk-ox fjord 

 than in other places ; but in the whole district it was so sparse that probably 

 the limit of what a musk-ox can be content with had been reached. This is 

 indicated by the fact that the expedition did not meet with any calves. 



Wulff examined several stomachs of musk-oxen, and always found them 

 filled with twigs of willow and, to a less degree, with leaves of anemone and 

 other plants. 



Two herbivorous mammals which were very numerous were the Arctic 

 hare and the little Arctic lemming. The former of these played an important 

 part as food for the expedition ; the latter is so small — its size is between that 

 of a mouse and a rat — that it has no significance as food for men and dogs. 

 The fully grown Arctic hare is white all the year round, with merely a slight 

 dark shade on the head ; but the young which were observed in the beginning of 

 July were greyish-brown. The hare was common everywhere, and lived on 

 various plants ; according to the observations made by the Danmark Expedition 

 on the east coast of Greenland, it was especially fond of the roots of the Arctic 

 willow, which it dug up with its forepaws and snout. 



The little greyish-brown lemming is a very timid and nervous animal, which 

 chiefly keeps to its subterranean den, where it hibernates during the winter. 

 In some places, especially where vegetation was vigorous, it existed in great 

 numbers, though it was not often seen, because of its timidity. It would 

 occasionally set out on a long journey ; thus, for instance, it was met with a 

 few times out on the fjord-ice. Wulff relates a very funny experience on the 

 23rd of June : " Several kilometres out on the fjord-ice I met a small lemming, 

 quickly trotting along across the immense white field of snow. As I did not 

 298 " 



