"OUR RUDDER'S GONE!" 91 



within a few yards and then slowly went away. A few 

 were white, and some piebald, but most of them dark 

 gray. Some had begun to rub the velvet off their 

 horns. 



While taking this walk I made a first close ac- 

 quaintance with the tundra, the characteristic moor of 

 Arctic coasts. In distant appearance like rolling meads 

 of firm smooth ground, the surface of this locality on 

 nearer view was seen to be most uneven: thickly sprin- 

 kled with niggerheads, clods of tiu"f six or eight inches 

 high and about as far apart. To walk was galling, 

 because it required care to place the foot between the 

 niggerheads and it frequently slipped off when put on 

 them. This curious formation interested me so much 

 that I sat down and dissected one of the warts with my 

 hunting knife; letting the other men ramble on, as they 

 had no definite object. 



The autopsy of the niggerhead, then, revealed several 

 well-defined strata: (1) long round straight grass blades 

 like a wiry shock of hair; (2) fine light green feathery 

 moss; (3) decayed stems of green moss; (4) decayed grass 

 leaves matted horizontally; (5) live grass root bulbs; (6) 

 decayed grass roots, through which live grass roots grew 

 downward; (7) black loam formed by old grass roots; (8) 

 gray clay. 



On top some small lichens and flowers floin-ished. 

 The ground between the niggerheads was similar in 

 formation, but the moss was larger and the grass scarce 

 or absent. 



This ground covered with niggerheads is found in 

 certain kinds of topography; elsewhere the surface is 

 less uneven. 



The rudder from the ''Dev/ey" had been brought on 



