No. 382.] ANIMALS OF NORTHWESTERN ALASKA. 721 
of pebbles and gravel, and broken at intervals by steep gullies, 
in which streams run when the snow is melting, and by long 
narrow and shallow lagoons. These cliffs end at Cape Smyth, 
where the land becomes low and marshy, and the shore line is 
continued as a pebbly beach which runs out to form the sand- 
spit at Point Barrow. Noticeable on this beach are the heaps of 
gravel which are raised by the ice sometimes 5 to 6 feet in 
height. Masses of old ice, loaded, as is often the case, with 
transported material, are pushed up on the beach during severe 
storms, and melt rapidly in the summer, depositing their load of 
gravel and stones in heaps. These ice masses are often pushed 
up out of reach of the waves, so that the heaps of gravel are 
left thenceforth undisturbed. 
Inland the land rises, but very gradually, and the first really 
broken and hilly ground is decidedly beyond the usual deer- 
hunting grounds. There are no rocks zz situ visible in this 
region, and large boulders are absent. The surface of the 
ground is covered with a thin soil, which supports a rather sparse 
vegetation of grass, flowering herbs, creeping willows and mosses, 
anq is thicker on the higher hillsides, forming a layer of turf 
about a foot thick. Sphagnum abounds in the marshy low- 
lands. The whole surface of the land is exceedingly wet in 
summer, except the higher knolls and hillsides. The surface, 
however, thaws only to a depth of at most 18 inches. Beyond 
that, the ground is perpetually frozen to an unknown depth. 
The climate of this region is thoroughly arctic, the mean 
annual temperature being 8° F., ranging from 65° to — 52° F. 
The ordinary winter temperature, from December to March, is 
between — 20° and — 30° F., rarely rising as high as zero, and 
still more rarely going beyond it. The worst gales of the year 
usually occur in January. 
The sun is entirely below the horizon for 72-days in winter, 
beginning November 15, but the midday darkness is never 
total, even at the winter solstice, as the sun in that latitude is 
not far below the horizon. Still, the time when one can see to 
do outdoor work is merely a twilight from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. Of 
course for 72 days in summer the sun never sets, and for about 
a month before and after this time the daylight really lasts all 
