294 . ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 



shelter, harness for his dogs, and material for the construction of his 

 boats and canoes. Without the seal the Eskimo would be in a parlous 

 state; with the seal he requires but little else. 



Traces of the existence of the Eskimo were found as far north as the 

 eighty- second parallel of latitude on the west side of Smith Sound, by 

 Captain Nares, and this, I think, is the most northern vestige of the 

 existence of human life that has ever been discovered. Further 

 researches in high latitudes may bring to light traces of the wanderings 

 of these tribes still farther north. 



With regard to zoology, it must, 1 suppose, be confessed that the 

 terrestrial animals of the far north are fairly well known, but we have 

 yet much to learn regarding their habits and geographical distribu- 

 tion. There are many land species, such as fresh-water fishes, mollusca, 

 and insects, that we are compelled to acknowledge must lead a pecul- 

 iar existence, for, as far as We know, they must be frozen during the 

 entire winter. That must also be the fate of the pupse of butterflies 

 where the soil is frozen to a great depth, and of the inhabitants of 

 fresh-water lakes and pools which in the winter become solid ice. The 

 question is, how do they live? This and other physiological questions, 

 such as those affecting hibernation in extreme cold, have never yet 

 been satisfactorily explained, and can not be investigated except on the 

 spot and by an expert. Moreover, there are myriads of marine ani 

 mals in the north, such as acelepha?. (jelly-fishes), etc., which rise to the 

 surface on the calm summer days; it is important that these should be 

 drawn and examined from actual observation, for this has never yet 

 been done. Soundings, temperature observations, dredgings, and 

 other physical observations even in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay would 

 not only be important from a geographical and geological point of view, 

 but would yield zoological materials of the utmost value to science. 

 And what is said about Davis Strait applies equally to Bering Sea, 

 Hudsons Bay, and the Spitzbergen Sea; a physical and biological sur- 

 vey of these regions would be of the greatest interest and importance. 



Then the distribution of some of the Arctic animals is somewhat 

 puzzling. Take, as an illustration, the musk ox. During the Glacial 

 period it lived in Europe, but now it is almost entirely confined to 

 America, to the islands north of that continent, and to Greenland; 

 even in America it inhabits a very limited area bounded on the west by 

 the Mackenzie Biver. This in itself raises so many questions, geolog- 

 ical, geographical, and zoological, regarding the former land communi- 

 cations by way of the Orkney, Shetland, Faroe Islands, and Iceland 

 with the still farther north, and by Greenland with Spitzbergen, that 

 it is impossible to conceive a more instructive monograph than one 

 written on the range of the musk ox. 



The botany of the Arctic regions has, I presume, been fairly well 

 investigated, at least, so far as the flowering plants are concerned, but 

 the lichens, algse (both fresh-water and marine), mosses, and fungi 

 remain imperfectly known. It is, I believe, still a vexed question 



