PARRY'S POLAR VOYAGE. 



179 



They were usually met with in herds of from six or 

 eight to twenty, and were most abundant on the west 

 and north sides of the bay. Three bears were killed. 

 The vegetat'or. v^s tolerably abundant. 



The neighborhood of this bay, like most of the north- 

 ern shores of Spitsbergen, appears to have been much 

 visited by the DutcL at a very early period. There are 

 thirty graves on a po ; nt of land on the north side of the 

 bay. The bodies are usually deposited in an oblong 

 wooden coffin, which, on account of the difficulty of 

 digging the ground, is not buried, but merely covered 

 by large stones ; and a board is generally placed near 

 the head, having, either cut or painted upon it, the 

 name of the deceased, with those of his ship and com- 

 mander, and the month and year of his burial. Several 

 of these were fifty or sixty years old ; one bore the date 

 of 1738 ; and another, which Parry found on the beach 



