200 THE ARCTIC FOX, 



now and peck at it ; when he immediately springs 

 round upon them, and seldom misses his aim *. 



In Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, Mr. Pennant 

 tells us, these Foxes live also on the lesser quadru- 

 peds : in Greenland, from necessity, on berries, 

 shell-fisl], or whatever the sea throws up : but in 

 the north of Asia, and in Lapland, their principal 

 food is the Lemminc!; -j-, the multitudes of which 

 are sometimes so vast as to cover the whole face of 

 the country. The Foxes follow these in their emi- 

 grations from place to place ; and as the return of 

 the Lemming is very vmcertain, and frequently not 

 till after long intervals of time, they are sometimes 

 absent for three or four years in pursuit of this their 

 favourite prey.. — Mr. Pennant also tells us, that they 

 are tame and inoffensive animals ; and so simple that 

 there have been instances of their standing by while 

 the trap was baiting, and immediately afterwards 

 putting their heads into it ^. 



They are killed for the sake of their skins ; the 

 fur of which is light and warm, but not durable. 

 They have at times appeared in such vast numbers 

 about Hudson's Bay, that four hundred have been, 

 taken in different ways between the m.onths of De- 

 cember and March. — The Greenlanders sometimes 

 eat the flesh, which they prefer to that of the * 

 Hare. They also make buttons of the skins ; and, 

 splitting the tendons, use them instead of thread. 



* Cliailcvoix, Travels, i. '207. f Mus Leiumus, of Liinjo-us. 

 X Pcu.li. Vrijt. ZouL i. 4d, 44. 



