52 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 
paddle being broken when a kayaker has to break 
through thin ice at every stroke as he propels the 
kayak over the surface of the ice. A waterproof 
covering of skin fits on the rim of the circular 
aperture in the middle of the kayak and is held in 
position over the shoulders of the kayaker by 
strips of hide fastened with bone fittings; in rough 
weather a complete covering is worn and many 
kayakers are able, if capsized, to turn completely 
round under water and come up on the other side 
without being more than superficially wetted. 
There are certain peculiarities in the construction 
and ornamentation of both kayaks and harpoons 
characteristic of different localities: Mr Porsild 
told me that Peter Freuchen, the Danish Manager 
of the Thule Station in the far north and the com- 
panion of Rasmussen on many journeys, had been 
able to follow the wanderings of the Walrus; he 
found that the Walrus travels from Cape York 
(Map 4, Y) to the south of Greenland along the 
west coast and returns to the north up the opposite 
side of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. An important 
piece of evidence was furnished by the discovery 
in a Walrus taken in the extreme north of a 
southern type of harpoon which was eventually 
traced to its owner in South Greenland. 
The introduction of the rifle has not been an 
unmixed blessing: many birds and other animals 
are wounded without being killed and there is 
much indiscriminate slaughter. In Greenland, ex- 
cept for foxes (May to October), there is unfor- 
tunately no ‘close season.’ 
