Climate 189 



whatever, others because they are buried under a deep 

 -layer of dead leaves and stems. 



But though they bear the intense cold without 

 injury, it is quite evident that even these dwellers in 

 the Arctic regions enjoy a little warmth when they can 

 get it, for they are most abundant on sunny slopes and 

 in sheltered nooks and corners. Many of them, indeed, 

 crouch close to the ground, and few venture to raise 

 their heads very high ; trees there are none, the bushes 

 are dwarfs, with few and small leaves, and the vegetation 

 generally is on a miniature scale. Still, there is vege- 

 tation ; and whether in ' deserts ' of ice or ' deserts ' of 

 sand, it would be equally difficult to find any spaces of 

 large extent where vegetable life of some kind or other 

 does not exist, at least during certain seasons of the 

 year, 



