DISTRIBUTION OP THE MUSK-OX IN GREENLAND. 43 



western coast of Greenland, where the great glaciers that debouch 

 into Melville Bay, seem to have set a limit to their southern 

 wanderings on that side. In the above-quoted article I referred 

 to all the information then available regarding the distribution of 

 the Musk-ox in Greenland, but since then considerable additions 

 to our knowledge of the subject have been made. In the year 

 1892, Lieutenant Peary made his marvellous journey with the 

 Norwegian, Astrup, from their winter quarters in Murchison 

 Sound, on the west side of Greenland, across the inland ice, 

 to what may prove to be the north-eastern point of Greenland 

 proper. It was on July 4th, 1892, that Peary and Astrup 

 reached the limit of their adventurous journey, and, in honour 

 of the day, Peary gave the name of Independence Bay to the 

 spot. He tells us that the day was delightfully warm and 

 calm. The position of Observation Point on Navy Cliff, over- 

 looking Independence Bay, was fixed as 81° 37' N. lat., and 

 34° 5' W. long. They found flowers of various kinds blooming 

 in abundance, conspicuous among them being the ever-present 

 Arctic poppy. Snow Buntings, two or three Sandpipers, a single 

 Gerfalcon, and a pair of Havens were observed. Two Humble- 

 bees, several butterflies, and innumerable flies were also noted. 

 As for Musk-oxen, their traces were to be found on every moun- 

 tain and in every valley ; without making any particular search 

 they saw twenty and killed two, but all of them might have been 

 obtained without the least difficulty. 



The position thus determined by Peary on the north-east 

 coast of Greenland is about two hundred and seventy geographical 

 miles north of the extreme point attained by the German Expedi- 

 tion of 1869-70, under Koldewey. There is no reason to sup- 

 pose that there is any interruption in the range of the Musk-ox 

 along the east coast line between these two points. Lieutenant 

 Eyder, of the Danish Boyal Navy, in his exploration of East 

 Greenland in 1891-92, met with Musk-oxen in Jameson's 

 Land, thus establishing the range of this animal on the east 

 coast of Greenland to midway between the parallels of 70° and 

 71° N. 



The distribution of the Musk-ox along the shores of Green- 

 land covers an immense coast-line ; we have traced it from 

 Polaris Bay, on the north-west side of Greenland, from about 

 81° N,, to Independence Bay on the north-east coast in about the 



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