94 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
On the 1st April the fresh tracks of a small party of Musk- 
oxen were discovered in the vicinity of winter-quarters. Though 
our most eager sportsmen went in pursuit, no one was successful 
in meeting with them. The tracks of the animals showed that 
they had been moving from the north-west, probably from some 
of the sheltered valleys about Cape Joseph Henry. A pack of 
Wolves had followed these Musk-oxen, and from traces that I 
examined it was evident that they had been able to secure at 
least one of them, the droppings of the Wolves being largely 
composed of the wool and hair of the Musk-ox. The most 
extraordinary circumstance in connection with the life-history of 
the Musk-ox is its capability of finding subsistence in Grinnell 
Land during the long Arctic night. We may dismiss from our 
consideration the question of a southern migration, for there is 
no land within the possibility of reach of these animals where 
the winter conditions would be appreciably modified, whilst we 
know for certain that the Musk-oxen living in the extreme north 
of Greenland never pass to the south of the great Humboldt 
Glacier. The extraordinary powers that these animals must 
possess of resisting cold does not excite my astonishment so 
much as their capability of procuring food during the long 
night. Even in those months during which the sun remains 
above the horizon for the whole twenty-four hours, it is a matter 
of wonder how such large animals can obtain not only subsistence, 
but accumulate large quantities of fat; but during the five 
months that the sun remains below the horizon, and every scrap 
of food must be searched for beneath a deep snow covering, the 
difficulty of existence must be greatly increased. No animal 
represents more fully than the Musk-ox the truth of the doctrine 
of the “survival of the fittest.” The oldest, perhaps, of existing 
mammals, it has found for itself in the Arctic and Polar Regions 
an almost impregnable retreat from the assaults of man, so 
destructive to the large Mammalia in all other portions of the 
globe. Unaffected by the rigours of the Arctic winter, and finding 
subsistence on the sparse vegetation of those utterly dreary 
regions, the species will doubtless survive long after the Elephant, 
Bison, and many other large quadrupeds of tropical and temperate 
regions have passed away. 
On the 3rd April our main sledging parties left the ship for 
their long, toilsome, and perilous journeys. It was an affecting 
