The Zoologist/3rd series, vol 1 (1877)/Issue 8/On the Mammalia of North Greenland, and Grinnell Land

by Henry Wemyss Feilden

 

THE ZOOLOGIST

 

THIRD SERIES.

 

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ON THE MAMMALIA OF NORTH GREENLAND,
AND GRINNELL LAND.

By H.W. Feilden, F.G.S., C.M.Z.S.

 

On the 29th July, 1875, the Arctic Expedition,—H.M. Ships 'Alert' and 'Discovery,'—under the command of Captain G.S. Nares, R.N., passed from the north-water of Baffin Bay into the ice of Smith Sound. On the 1st September, 1875, the 'Alert' reached the limit of navigation, in latitude 82° 27' N., on the northern shore of Grinnell Land, the 'Discovery' having previously found winter-quarters in a commodious harbour on the western side of Robeson Channel, in 81° 44' N. lat. In the following year, 1876, sledging expeditions were pushed out due north over the frozen sea, and also along the coast lines east and west, whilst subsidiary sledging expeditions examined various portions of coast line and penetrated, where possible, into the interior. All the officers employed in these expeditions took a lively interest in the zoological results of the voyage, and I am indebted to one and all for their ready assistance. A large extent of country was carefully worked, and I am quite confident that no species of mammal escaped our united observations. In the end of July, 1876, after an imprisonment of eleven months, the 'Alert' broke out of winter-quarters, and again rounding Cape Union joined her consort at Discovery Bay. Together the two vessels made the perilous passage down Smith Sound, and on the 10th September reached the north-water, and comparative safety, of Baffin Bay.

Homo grœnlandus.—The most northern known inhabitants of our globe are the Eskimo that dwell along the coasts of North Greenland between Cape York, the northern extremity of Melville Bay, and the great Humboldt glacier, which discharges into Smith Sound on its eastern side, between the seventy-ninth and eightieth parallels of north latitude. These εσχατοι ανδρων were first brought to notice by Captain Sir John Ross, who discovered them during his voyage to Baffin Bay in 1818, and they were called by him the "Arctic Highlanders." Since then Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes and Dr. Bessels, with their different Expeditions, wintered in the vicinity of these people, and have published graphic and interesting accounts of their habits and ways of life. The most northern settlement of these Eskimo at the present day is Etah, on the northern shore of Foulke Fiord, from whence the hunters of the tribe travel along the Greenland coast as far north as the southern edge of the Humboldt glacier, a little beyond the seventy-ninth degree. That they also at times cross the Sound and visit the opposite shores is evident from Dr. Bessels having reached latitude 79° 16', on the east coast of Grinnell Land, by sledging, in company with two of the Etah Eskimo, on April 16th, 1873.^[1] In 1875, I found at Cape Sabine the remains of several ancient Eskimo encampments, but nearer to the shore traces of a recent visit, a blackened fire-place made of three stones placed against a rock, with the hairs of a white bear sticking to the grease-spots, an harpoon with iron tip, and the excreta of the dogs who had fed off the bear's hide. Further north, on the shores of Buchanan Strait, we came upon deserted settlements containing the ruins of many "igloos"; in one instance the ribs of a large cetacean had been used as rafters to a hut; bones of Reindeer, Musk-ox, White Bear, Seal and Walrus were strewed around, and I picked up several articles of human workmanship, both in bone and ivory. Still further north, Norman Lockyer Island, in Franklin Pierce Bay, at some distant period, must have been the home of numerous Eskimo. On the 11th August, 1875, I landed and walked along the northern shore of this island for some two miles; it was strewed with the bones of walrus, whilst skulls of this animal were lying about in hundreds, all broken more or less by human agency, in every instance the tusks having been extracted. Skulls of Phoca barbata and P. hispida, broken at the base in order to extract the brain, were numerous, and I came across fragments of the skeleton of one cetacean. Patches of green moss marked the sites of ancient habitations, and circles of stones summer tents, whilst numerous stone "caches" and cooking-places, now overgrown with moss and lichen, but containing calcined bones, bore silent witness to the former presence of inhabitants. At various points of Grinnell Land, still further north, notably at Cape Hilgard, Cape Louis Napoleon, Cape Hayes and Cape Fraser, I came across old traces of Eskimo. At Radmore Harbour, in 80° 25' N. lat., I found the ruins of another large settlement, apparently as long deserted as the one on Norman Lockyer Island. After removing the green moss and overturning some of the large stones that had once formed the walls of the "igloos," I discovered several interesting ivory relics. On Bellot Island, at the entrance of Discovery Bay, 81° 44' N. lat., were several rings of lichen-covered stones that marked the sites of old encampments, fragments of bone and chips of drift-wood being strewn around. A few miles south of Cape Beechey I found more circles of tent-stones; and near at hand a small heap of rock-crystals and flakes showed where the artificers in stone had been making arrow or harpoon heads. Close under Cape Beechey, and about six or seven miles from the eighty-second parallel, I came across the most northern traces of man that have yet been found; they consisted of the frame-work of a large wooden sledge, a stone lamp in good preservation, and a very perfect snow-scraper made out of a walrus-tusk. Taking into consideration that where I found these relics is at the narrowest part of Robeson Channel, not more than thirteen miles across, and that a few miles to the south, near Cape Lupton, on the opposite shore of Hall Land, the 'Polaris' Expedition found traces of summer encampments, I am inclined to believe that this must have been the spot selected for crossing over the channel, and, owing probably to the difficult and dangerous nature of the ice to be encountered, the heavy sledge and impedimenta had been left behind. It may perhaps have marked the ultima thule of human advance, and of a cruel destiny that forced poor beings to render up their lives at the altar of discovery, under the light of the midnight sun. This thought crossed my mind as I came across these relics, and human imagination can scarcely depict a spot more wild or more weird than that I then gazed on, or one more befitting the enactment of such a tragedy. Northwards from this point no trace of man was discovered by any of our parties, neither westward along the northern shores of Grinnell Land, or eastward along the coasts of Greenland that border the Polar Basin. I am quite convinced that the men whose tracks we followed as far as the eighty-second degree never got round Cape Union. Even in the short summer of July and part of August animal life is too scarce there to support a party of travelling Eskimo, whilst the idea of winter residence is beyond consideration. In my opinion it is impossible for any Eskimo to have rounded the northern shores of the Greenland continent, and the presence of the tribe seen by Sabine and Clavering on the eastern coast of Greenland may easily be accounted for by their having rounded Cape Farewell from the westward. It is well known that formerly considerable numbers of Eskimo were living to the eastward of Cape Farewell, but year by year stragglers and small parties from these outside savages have re-entered the Danish colonies to the westward of Cape Farewell, and become absorbed amongst the civilized Greenlanders. This slow but steady return to the southward fully accounts for the German Polar Expedition of 1869–70 not meeting with the Eskimo tribe seen by Sabine on the east coast. The result of my observations amounts to this, that along the shores of Smith Sound, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin and Robeson Channel, three degrees north of the present extreme range of the Etah Eskimo, the most northern race of men known, there are to be found not only traces of Eskimo wanderings, but many proofs of former permanent habitation in places where under present climatic conditions it would be impossible for even the "Arctic Highlanders" now to exist.

Ursus maritimus.—There is little to tempt this animal from the comparatively rich hunting-fields of the north-water of Baffin Bay to the dreary shores of Smith Sound and northward. A single Bear was killed by Dr. Bessels, of the 'Polaris' Expedition, in Petermann Fiord, and foot-marks were observed by members of our Expedition near Thank God Harbour; and along the coast of Grinnell Land between the winter quarters of the 'Alert' and 'Discovery,' we also saw foot-marks in the neighbourhood of Cape Hayes. At the present day I do not imagine the White Bear ever enters the Polar Basin through Robeson Channel. The cranium of a very large example was found by Captain Markham on the northern shores of Grinnell Land in latitude 82° 30' N., some distance from present high-water level. I think it is not improbable that this specimen may have been washed out of the mud-beds which fill up the valleys of that region to an altitude of several hundred feet, and from which I have taken the remains of Seal, Musk Ox and other animals, with abundance of drift-wood and the shells of most of the Mollusca now inhabiting the adjacent sea. If I am right in this surmise, there is no saying from what distance or from what direction this cranium may have been brought on an ice-raft.

Mustela erminea.—The Ermine has followed the Lemming, Myodes torquatus, throughout its northern migrations to the shores of the Polar Basin, and crossing Robeson Channel in company with this little rodent has invaded North Greenland, where Lieutenant Beaumont, R.N., secured an example during his sledge journey in latitude 82° 15' N. It doubtless extends as far south on the eastern shore of Greenland, where it was found by the Germans, as the range of the Lemming. I obtained specimens in Grinnell Land as far north as 82° 30', and several examples were shot near Discovery Bay. It is hunted and killed by the Arctic Fox. We noticed the tracks of this little animal in the snow on the reappearance of sun-light, and remarked that it is infested by a tenia.

Canis lupus.—This animal was not met with by Dr. Bessels in Hall Land, and consequently I hardly expected to meet with it still further north in Grinnell Land. However, on the 1st April, 1876, several Wolves made their appearance in the neighbourhood of the winter quarters of the 'Alert.' They were evidently following a small herd of Musk-ox, whose tracks and traces were observed in the vicinity. That the Wolves are able at times to secure these animals was shown by their droppings being composed chiefly of Musk-ox wool and splinters of bone. Several of our sportsmen started in pursuit of these Wolves, but with one exception they did not allow any one to approach them within three or four hundred yards. The exceptional Wolf followed Captain Markham, who was unarmed, for more than two miles, no doubt attracted by the retriever bitch that accompanied that officer. These Wolves were larger than the largest of our Eskimo dogs, and of a light gray colour, with long fur and drooping tail. They agreed well with the description by Richardson of Canis lupus-occidentalis. The following day, April 2nd, the Wolves still continued in the neighbourhood of the ship, and at intervals their long, melancholy, but not unmusical wail reverberated from the hills. After this date we saw no more of these animals till the 25th May, when a single individual followed the sledge I was with for several days as we travelled along the coast. It was a most cunning beast, and eluded all our endeavours to get a shot at it. Subsequently I procured a cranium and part of the skeleton of one of these animals, which was picked up by a sailor of the ship. This animal is infested by a species of tenia.

Vulpes lagopus.—The Arctic Fox decreases in numbers as we proceed up Smith Sound. One was shot on the ice near Victoria Head, Grinnell Land, which was prowling around the ship, and more than one specimen was obtained near the winter-quarters of the 'Discovery.' At Floe-berg Beach, the winter-quarters of the 'Alert,' foot-prints of the Fox were occasionally seen in the snow, but it was not till the 13th July, 1876, that I obtained a specimen in the flesh. On that occasion Lieutenant Parr, R.N., and I were out on a hunting expedition, our tent being pitched at Dumbell Harbour, some miles north of Floe-berg Beach, and from it we made daily incursions up the valleys leading to the uplands in hopes of meeting with big game. On the date above mentioned we had ascended to an altitude of eight hundred feet above the sea, and had emerged on a great plateau which stretched for several miles towards a range of mountains. The snow had melted from more than one-half of its area, the surface being composed of splintered slates, which rendered walking very disagreeable and very severe on shoe-leather. A few Knots, Tringa canutus, rose wild from pools of snow-water, and tempted us to continue our journey along this dreary upland, in hopes of finding a nesting pair. Soon heavy snow began to fall, and the mist came tearing down from the mountains enveloping us. We steered then by compass, but occasionally the sun and wind dispersed the mist and gave us good sights of the mountains, by which we corrected our bearings. All of a sudden we were startled by the sharp bark of a Fox. More than a year had elapsed since we had heard such a sound. It seemed very close to us, and as the fog lifted we saw the animal standing on a little hill of piled-up rocks that rose like an islet from the plateau. Separating we approached the Fox from opposite directions. Parr fired at it, when it dropped down and crawled below some heavy rocks: out rushed the female from its lair, and we secured her. These animals in summer garb are very different to the snow-white skins which we usually associate with Arctic Foxes. The hair on the back and brush is of a dirty rufous tinge, on the belly yellowish white. The flora in the neighbourhood of this den was wonderfully rich, the soil having been fertilized by the presence of the Foxes. Several Saxifrages, a Stellaria, a Draba or two, and two or three kinds of grass were in bloom, and the yellow blossom of the Potentilla brightened the spot. As we rested there, many little Lemmings popped up from their holes, and undismayed by our presence commenced feeding on the plants. We noticed that many dead Lemmings were scattered around. In every case they had been killed in the same manner, the sharp canine teeth of the Foxes had penetrated the brain. Presently we came upon two Ermines killed in the same manner: these were joyful prizes, for up to this time we had not obtained these animals in northern Grinnell Land. Then to our surprise we discovered numerous deposits of dead Lemmings. In one out-of-the-way corner under a rock we pulled out a heap of over fifty dead Lemmings. We disturbed numerous "caches" of twenty and thirty, and the ground was honey-combed with holes that each contained several bodies of these little animals, a small quantity of earth being placed over them. In one hole we found the major part of a Hare carefully hidden away. The wings of young Brent Geese, Bernicla brenta, were also lying about; and as these birds were at that date only just hatching, it showed that they must have been the results of successful forays of prior seasons, and that consequently the Foxes occupy the same abodes from year to year. I had long wondered how the Arctic Fox existed during the winter. Prof. Newton had already suggested, in his 'Notes on the Zoology of Spitzbergen,' that the Fox probably made some provision for winter sustenance, and I was much pleased by finding these large deposits of dead Lemmings and other animals, unquestionably bearing out the same views. It is also a very beautiful arrangement that the increased flora induced by the presence of the Foxes should be the means of attracting and sustaining the Lemmings in the immediate vicinity of the Foxes' den. The Arctic Fox, although I subsequently saw a second pair in the same neighbourhood, may be considered somewhat rare in the northern part of Grinnell Land. The specimens obtained did not differ in size from those killed further south.

Myodes torquatus.—This species of Lemming was found in great abundance along the western shores of Smith Sound, and was traced by our explorers to the eighty-third degree of north latitude and to the extreme western point attained. On the Greenland shore it was found at Thank God Harbour by members of our Expedition, where it had previously been obtained by Dr. Bessels, and traces of it were noticed by our sledge parties who travelled along the northern shores of Greenland. There can be no doubt that the eastern migration of this animal has been across Robeson Channel and around the north coast of Greenland to Scoresby Sound on the east coast, from which locality this animal was brought by Captain Scoresby in 1822. Apparently its southern range on the west coast of Greenland is stopped by the great Humboldt glacier. This Lemming is a great wanderer: we found it on the floes of Robeson Channel at considerable distances from land, sometimes in a very exhausted state, but generally dead. Its habit of leaving the shore and wandering over the ice fully accounts for the skeleton of one of this species being found on a floe in latitude 81° 45' N., sixty miles from Spitzbergen, by Sir J.C. Ross during Parry's memorable attempt to reach the North Pole in 1827. The peculiar formation of the claws in this species is not permanent; that is to say, it is to a considerable extent seasonal. During the greater part of the year, when the ground is covered with snow, and the animal has to seek its food below the surface of the snow, the claws on the fore-feet attain a great development, and are used in burrowing through the snow. By the month of July, when large areas are bared of snow, and the Lemming, feeding on plants in the open, seeks shelter under rocks or by scratching holes in the earth, the lower portion of the nail on the fore-foot becomes obliterated, either being worn by contact against the hard earth or else gnawed off by the animal. The young have sharp-pointed claws on their fore-feet, and from an examination of a large series of adults of both sexes I find that the summer alteration in the shape of the claw is the same in both sexes. The month of March was the earliest date by which we had sufficient light to enable us to secure these animals, and at that season their coats were white on the outside, changing to slate-blue underneath. The food of this Lemming consists of vegetable substances, especially the buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia. It makes nests of grass in the snow, which we often found during summer as the snow thawed: in most cases large accumulations of the dung of these animals were lying close to the nests. I see no reason to suppose that this animal hybernates, for on the return of light, with a temperature at —50° and a deep mantle of snow covering the land, the Lemming was to be seen on the surface of the snow, close to its syphuncle, blinking at the bright rays of the sun, and during the depths of winter there could be no greater difficulty in procuring food than in March. Sometimes I came across the Lemming at some distance from the hole by which it retreats to its galleries under the snow, and it was interesting to see the rapidity with which it could disappear, throwing itself on its head, its fore-paws worked with great rapidity, rotating outwards, and throwing up a cloud of snow-dust some six inches high. Later on in the year I have seen a Lemming baffle the attempts at capture of a Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicaudatus, by the same tactics. The female brings forth from three to five at a birth in June and July, making a comfortable nest of grass for their reception.

 

(To be continued.)

 

 

1. Report Sec. U.S. Navy, 1873, p. 537.