96 A SUMMER IN GREENLAND 
has wandered over the mountains of Central Asia, 
Japan, and North America, Saxifrages, and several 
other flowering plants were in full bloom. 
On the way from Sarkak to the Settlement of 
Ritenbenk, on an island off the mainland, we 
passed near the vertical face of a high cliff known 
as the Bird Rock. It was nearly midnight in the 
middle of August. The smooth sea was a rich 
indigo, and between our boat and the light sky 
over the horizon was silhouetted a small trading 
schooner which we had taken in tow. As we ap- 
proached the Bird Rock, pairs of Razorbills floating 
on the water became increasingly numerous, 
always a large and a smaller bird, mothers giving 
lessons in diving to their inexperienced children. 
An Eskimo on board the schooner unable, as are 
the natives generally, to resist the temptation of 
firing at any wild thing, tried to shoot the swim- 
ming birds; the mothers sometimes dived to avoid 
the shot, leaving the young birds to their fate, but 
usually the maternal instinct prevailed and the 
older birds with cries of alarm kept by the side of 
their charges. 
From our first sight of Greenland until we left 
for Copenhagen the days were always interesting, 
whether we were slowly travelling from place to 
place collecting specimens or living at the Arctic 
Station botanising and geologising in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood, and learning many things 
about the people and the country from our good 
friend Morten Porsild, the Director. My first 
