33 



also those of the reindeer, so there is no small possibility 

 that the above mentioned thighbone was that of a musk-ox. 



During the expediton of Ryder a dozen craniums were 

 gathered on a mountain slope in Nordbugt at Nordvestfjord; 

 few of the other bones were found then. Ryder (1. с p. 304) 

 thinks it probable that the animals were killed by Eskimo, 

 who have carried with them the meat, bones and the skin, and 

 left the heavy heads. Nathorst (1. с, И, p. 143) feels most 

 inclined to believe that some Scotch whaler killed the animals. 

 But it is not very likely that a whaler should go so far into 

 Scoresby Sund; Nordvestfjord is so closed in by high ice 

 mountains, that no ship ventures upon going there, and hardly 

 whale-boats, but of course, the question is open, though several 

 things might indicate that Ryder is right. 



Much weight must not be attached to the fact that musk- 

 oxen are not found among the found carved figures of animals. 

 Certainly, some figures of bears, seals, narwhals etc. are 

 known, found in the old Eskimo houses, and Nathorst has 

 (1. с p. 348 Fig. c.) given a figure of an animal from East 

 Greenland, the single known that is perhaps a reindeer. There- 

 fore nothing can be built on this, especially as the above 

 mentioned figure of a reindeer with as great right might be 

 said to be that of a musk-ox, the horns that might show with 

 complete certainty the difference are wanting. 



During the expedition of Ryder a very old skull of a 

 musk-ox was found at Vestfjord, another at Gaasefjord; in 

 neither place musk-oxen were seen «so that it does not seem 

 to live in so great a part of the country as it used to do" 

 (Bay 1. с p. 18). Nathorst found two very decayed skulls in 

 the inmost part of Franz Joseph's Fjord, and thinks that the 

 musk-ox lived before in this region, then it disappeared, and 

 then again it returned. After our return home , Hartz has 

 communicated to me that he saw a very old cranium, covered 

 with lichens, near Ryder's Elv. These informations show, that 

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