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248 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN
Rae, Great Slave Lake. They are said to be fairly numerous
among the tundras of northern Alaska., while Arctic explorers
have found the polar hare " very abundant" on the
large islands lying to the north of the American Continent.
On Baring Island they were in considerable numbers and
many were shot. The Resolute obtained 146 on Melville
I> land, and Ross secured some in Boothia. Nares met with
them on bis polar expedition, and Greely's men captured 57
examples, lie gives latitude 83" 24' north as its highest
northern range. Lieutenant Lockwood killed one at Cape
lionet, ou the coast of north- western Greenland. Captain
3Iarkhani, of the Alert, observed traces on the frozen polar
sea, 10 miles from the nearest land, in latitude 83° 10' north.
Dix- tor Armstrong also mentions that individuals were occasionally
seen on the ice at a distance of 2 or 3 miles from
the shore. He asserts that they breed three or four times
in the course of an Arctic season, and that the females have
as many as eight and ten at a birth. This seems both
extraordinary and improbable, but the doctor was a close
observer and had had three years' experience of Baring
I si ami and its fauna. Sir James Clark Ross, on the other
hand, writes that a female shot at Sheriff harbour, Boothia,
on June 7, 1832, had four young in utero nearly mature,
each sy 2 inches long, and of a dark gray colour. In the
uterus of one killed at Igloolik on June 2, six young were
found, not quite so far advanced. One taken by Ross himself
on June 28, a few days after birth, became sufficiently
tame to eat from the hand, but it died fifteen months later.
He remarks that the polar hare exists even in the most
desolate sections of the Arctic regions, and that, too, throughout
the long winter; nor does it seek shelter by burrowing
in the snow, but is often met with sitting under the lee of a
large stone where drifting snow has accumulated and seems
to afford some protection from the biting blast. Doctor Armstrong,
however, holds that this hare, as well as white foxes,
lemmings, and the very few native birds, all burrow in the
snow at times during the winter for the sake of warmth.
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| Title | Page 272 |
| OCR | 248 THROUGH T H E MACKENZIE BASIN Rae, Great Slave Lake. They are said to be fairly numerous among the tundras of northern Alaska., while Arctic explorers have found the polar hare " very abundant" on the large islands lying to the north of the American Continent. On Baring Island they were in considerable numbers and many were shot. The Resolute obtained 146 on Melville I> land, and Ross secured some in Boothia. Nares met with them on bis polar expedition, and Greely's men captured 57 examples, lie gives latitude 83" 24' north as its highest northern range. Lieutenant Lockwood killed one at Cape lionet, ou the coast of north- western Greenland. Captain 3Iarkhani, of the Alert, observed traces on the frozen polar sea, 10 miles from the nearest land, in latitude 83° 10' north. Dix- tor Armstrong also mentions that individuals were occasionally seen on the ice at a distance of 2 or 3 miles from the shore. He asserts that they breed three or four times in the course of an Arctic season, and that the females have as many as eight and ten at a birth. This seems both extraordinary and improbable, but the doctor was a close observer and had had three years' experience of Baring I si ami and its fauna. Sir James Clark Ross, on the other hand, writes that a female shot at Sheriff harbour, Boothia, on June 7, 1832, had four young in utero nearly mature, each sy 2 inches long, and of a dark gray colour. In the uterus of one killed at Igloolik on June 2, six young were found, not quite so far advanced. One taken by Ross himself on June 28, a few days after birth, became sufficiently tame to eat from the hand, but it died fifteen months later. He remarks that the polar hare exists even in the most desolate sections of the Arctic regions, and that, too, throughout the long winter; nor does it seek shelter by burrowing in the snow, but is often met with sitting under the lee of a large stone where drifting snow has accumulated and seems to afford some protection from the biting blast. Doctor Armstrong, however, holds that this hare, as well as white foxes, lemmings, and the very few native birds, all burrow in the snow at times during the winter for the sake of warmth. |
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