.Greenlandish dogs are very ferocious, 
often fight among themselves till one of them is 
kil en is unknown in Greenland. 
These dogs are very prolific, having frequently nine and 
are obliged to provide for themselves, and very 
en perish yt hg The Greenlanders use the skins 
for shirts, stockings, and gloves: they make anege of 
the guts: they are very fond of their flesh as food, 
and reckon a very fat dog a great delicacy, The dog 
skins having a very unpleasant smell, do not form an 
The ine lagopus) generally called the 
isatis (canis us arctic 
fox, or blue and white fox, eat ‘ound in the arctic 
regions, a few degrees within and without the 
circle. It inhabits the whole coast of Greenland, but 
lives always.in the neighbourhood of the sea, in cliffs 
and cavities, or holes formed accidentally from frag- 
ments of rocks, and having many outlets. Their food 
is’small birds and their , eggs of sea fowls, shell- 
fish, and, when compelled by want, they eat grass, 
and all that the sea throws up... The arctic fox is of a 
bluish grey colour; one variety is entirely snow white 
both in summer and winter. The hair is very thick, 
thicker in winter than in summer ; and yery soft and 
silky. The blue variety changes its.colour in summer, 
and acquires a skin of grey, blue and white, 
The isatis is undoubtedly the hardiest of 85 
It sets out for prey to the houses of the Gree 
ers, during the severity of winter, It couples twice a 
year, like the dog, and, when with. young, the fe- 
male retires to her kennel. It swims uncommonly 
well from one island to another, to the distance of four 
and five miles, in search of prey. — It,is very harmless, 
and, when young, is very easily-tamed,. Its skin is high- 
ly prized, and very much thought of in China. . It is 
generally caught by the natives in traps made of stones, 
. like small huts, Sings a broad flat mene a hornblende 
slate, or mica slate, hanging perpendicularly by way 
of a door, which falls down by means of a string bait- 
ed on the inside with the.salmo arcticus, a small fish, 
which the isatis 4 very fond of. oY is, also taken by 
the European settlers in pitfalls, and in springes of iron. 
The flesh is not eaten by the Greenlanders, ian when 
they are in the greatest want,of food. 
he white hare, arctic hare, ox varying hare, is in 
Greenland of a snow white colour, both in summer and 
FE 
9a lichen 
nivalis. 
The 
1 gan this s They eat the flesh, 
which is. tender and wal onek pa boiled, and 
YOL.X. PART IT. — 
(GREENLAND. 
dried. The hunters ‘drink the warm Blood, dressed Greenland. 
with some berries; the contents of the stomach, calle ““V"" 
497 
ed nerrikak, is a delicate dish. They are also very 
fond of the fat of the animal. The skin forms a part 
of their clothing, particularly of that of the women ; 
and the inhabitant of this dreadful climate is obli- 
to procure a couple of fine rein-deer skins during 
summer, if he wishes to be agreeable to his wife. 
Thesinews, when split, are very good threads, with 
which the women sew their clothes. The horns are 
employed for utensils and instruments. The test 
number of rein-deers is found in the vicinity of Baal’s 
river, near to the continental ice, from the 63d to the 
66th degree. They occur very seldom in more south 
ern or more northern latitudes. 
The white bear, polar bear, or arctic bear, (Ursus ma= White bear. 
rilimus,. or Ursus arcticus), is a migrating animal. It 
is never seen after the large or black whale (Balena 
mysticetus) leaves the coast of West Greenland. Their 
size is stated by some authors to be from 13 to 23 feet, 
but this is probably too much exaggerated. The largest 
white bear which was met with on the west coast of 
Greenland, measured 9 feet and 4 inches from the 
snout to the tail, the skull of which is now in the 
museum of the Dublin Society. Another, caught 
by the celebrated navigator, Captain Phipps, (Lord 
Mulgrave) at Spitzbergen, measured 7 feet from the 
shout to the tail. The white bear seems’ the only 
animal, that, by being placed in the coldest climate, 
grows larger than those that live in the temperate 
zones. Its flesh is not so-good as that of the other 
kinds: of bear; it has an oily taste, and a fishy fla- 
vour; the liver is very unwholesome, and causes vo- 
miting. The usual food of this animal is fish, seals, 
and the carcases of whales. On land, which it seldom 
roaches, it preys on rein-deer, hares, foxes, and 
birds. It lies in ambush on the flakes of the floatin 
ice, and lurks there after seals and other marine-ani- 
mals ; it also attacks the morse, or walrus, with which 
it is in constant enmity. The walrus, by reason of its 
large teeth, has generally the superiority, but frequent- 
ly both the combatants perish in the conflict. In wins 
ter, when hungry, it sometimes attempts to break into 
the houses of the Greenlanders, allured by the scent of 
the flesh of seals, but,it is very easily driven away with 
fire-arms and dogs. The ‘female has only one young 
one, and lodges it in the snow of the floating ice, or on 
the shores, . The affection between the parents and 
their young is so great, that they will sooner die than 
desert one another. The Greenlanders kill them with 
fire-arms, generally assisted by dogs; and both the man 
and dog, feed on the flesh and fat. The skin is used 
for boots, and some other domestic purposes; it is also 
a valuable article of trade, a good din being generally 
sold for three or four pounds, 
- . The pinnated quadrupeds, or quadrupeds with fin- walrus 
like feet, are, the morse, or walrus, (Frichechus' rosma- 
rus). It is sometimes found of the length of 18 feet, and 
the circumference in the thickest part is ten or twelve 
feet. Its weight is from 600 to 1500 pounds. It has 
very short legs, and five toes on each foot, joined to- 
by webs, with a small roundish blunt nail to 
each, Its skin \is generally an inch thick, thicker on 
the neck, and very much wrinkled about the joints ; 
it is very thinly beset with grey and reddish grey hair, 
sometimes mouse-coloured. It has two large teeth or 
tusks in the upper-jaw, from a foot to two feet long, 
and four grinders, flat at the top, above and below, 
surfaces of them generally being very much worn. It 
is found of: the. largest size in the Icy Sea. The ani- 
mals feed both upon seagrass and smal! marine animals, 
SR 
