Dr, Axel Ohlin. 
6i 
small “nunataks,” situated some miles from the border of the in- 
land-ice, this animal not hesitating to cross glaciers. 
lO. OviBOS MOSCHATUS.— Although we did not meet with any 
of these interesting mammals, I put the musk-oxen on this list, see- 
ing that several bones of it have been found in the neighborhood of 
Inglefield Gulf. As is well known, its geographical distribution is 
highly interesting ; I do not think it is necessary to enter fully into 
this matter here. For further information I refer to the accounts of 
the Nares and Greely Expeditions. It is evident, however, that 
there is one problem in regard to the present range of the musk-ox 
which has not yet been fully explained. Its occurrence on the 
east coast of Greenland, first noted by the German expedition 
(1869-1870), and, recently, mentioned again by the Danes, is not 
strange, in view of the latest information from north Greenland. 
Peary and Astrup, on their sledge-journey, in 1892, to Indepen- 
dence Bay, in lat. 81° 37' N., and long. 34° 5' W., observed about 
twenty, some of which were killed. Thus, the way the musk-ox 
has taken to reach east Greenland is clear : From Grinnell Land, 
across Kennedy or Robeson Channel, he has wandered along the 
northern coast of Greenland, in the valleys of which he has found 
good feeding-places, as a comparatively rich vegetation covers the 
slopes of the mountains of Independence Bay, at the border of the 
inland-ice. R. Brown’s opinion, that Greenland must end some- 
where in lat. 82° or 83® N., was thus verified by Peary’s important 
discovery. Still, we cannot, in a satisfactory way, account for the 
disappearance of the musk-ox along the whole east side of Smith 
Sound, from lat. 82® N., as far south as Wolstenholme Sound, 
on which coast his bones have been found by Nares’ and 
Peary’s Expeditions. Feilden,^ the naturalist on board the Alert” 
one of Nares’ ships, believes that the Eskimos exterminated 
them ; ‘ ‘ for, I imagine, few animals are less fitted to elude the 
wiles of the hunter. ’ ’ ^ Still, he says on the next page : ‘ ‘ When 
thoroughly frightened they take to the hills, ascending precipitous 
slopes, and scaling rocks with great agility.” This seems to be 
somewhat contradictory. Other travelers refer to the danger of 
hunting the musk-ox, and tell how furiously the old bulls attack 
the hunter if he fires at the herd. It is difficult to determine the 
^ G. S. Nares. “ A Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea,” etc. London, 1878. Vol. 
II, p. 199. 
2 Ib., p. 200. 
