But of course the
accumulations of ice completely block continuous navigation.
The huge jagged island of BAFFIN'S LAND differs from much of Arctic
America in that it has high land rising into mountains. This is so
completely covered with ice that it is of little interest under
present circumstances to the world of civilization, though the large
herds of musk oxen which it once supported were of much use to Arctic
explorers as a food supply in winter. The coasts are inhabited by a
few thousand Eskimo, and Davis Straits and Baffin's Bay possess a
certain amount of commercial importance owing to the whale fisheries
which are carried on there by the British, the Danes, the Americans,
and the Eskimo. In fact the importance of these whale fisheries have
of late made the Americans of the United States a little inclined to
challenge the British possession of these great Arctic islands. North
Devon, North Somerset, Prince of Wales' Land, Melville Island, Banks
Land, Prince Albert Land, &c. &c, are names of other great Arctic
islands completely within the grip of the ice. The nature of their
interior is almost unknown. They are at present of use to no form of
man unless it be to a few wandering Eskimo, who come to their coasts
in the summer to kill seals.
The great NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES of the Canadian Dominion extend from
the American frontier of Alaska (which is the 141 deg.
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