214 О. HELMS. 
The low thicket which covers such large stretches provides food for 
the flocks of Ptarmigans which make their way down here in the winter, 
their principal winter food being leaf-buds. Most of the diving birds 
breed further to the north; but in winter the conditions at Angmagsalik 
are frequently quite good for them, the strong current in all the numerous 
narrow fjords and gulis often, even during the hardest frost, keeping 
the “current-runs” open for long periods; the birds can keep to these, 
while the sea yields plenty of food for most of them. 
The climate at Angmagsalik varies so much that it is difficult 
to describe it in few words. The mean temperature for the whole year 
is —2° C.; for the various months:— 
Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | April 
May | June | July | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. 
Nov. | Dec. 
| | 
ah 10.81 —45 0.8 | 4.9 | RB | 5.9 | 3.3 FB EBA 9.9 
The highest recorded temperature is 20.5 and 25.3, the lowest 
— 30.7; frost may appear in any month, as on the other hand the tempera- 
ture in any month may be above 0°, a circumstance which is due to 
the Fohn winds, which bring abrupt rises in the temperature with 
them. In all the months except June, July and August the frosty days 
exceed the number of days without frost. The rainfall is on the average 
907 mm., and varies greatly; there is rain on half the number of days 
in the year. Most of it falls in September and October, when the average 
is 108 and 154mm. Fog is rare in winter, more frequent in spring and 
summer; in the period May—August there is fog about every fourth 
day. The force of the wind is on the average for the whole year less 
than 3m. pr. sec.; it blows strongest in the winter half-year, when 
gales most frequently come from the north and north-east. Föhn winds, 
with abrupt rises in temperature and rain, make their appearance in 
all months, mostly from the west and northwest, and at times are 
exceedingly violent. But at the station itself, where the records are 
taken, it is much calmer than farther out at the coast; there is a calm 
at the station on about 50 per cent. of the days of the year, but only 
on 17 per cent. out at the coast. How varied the weather conditions 
can be in the different years may be best illustrated by passages from 
Petersen’s letters; on August 12th, 1900, he writes: “The winter (1899— 
1900) has on the whole been mild, without much storm or rain, and 
since April and up to the time of writing there has hardly been a day 
when we have not had a glimpse of the sun.” 
Quite the opposite state of affairs is evident from a letter dated 
August 12th, 1901: “A stormy and rough winter, but luckily without 
much cold... the summer, as regards the weather, has not been much 
