EXPLORATION OF HERALD ISLAND. 4 



should find it possible, as there was ten miles of shifting, 

 drifting ice between us and the open sea. I therefore began 

 the return journey about one o'clock this morning, after tak- 

 ing the compass bearings of the principal points within 

 sight on Wra.ngel Land and making a hasty collection of 

 the flowering plants on my way. . . . 



^.f 



A BIRD NURSERY. 



"Innumerable gulls and murres breed on the steep cliffs, 

 the latter most abundant. They kept up a constant din of 

 domestic notes. Some of them are sitting on their eggs, 

 others have young; and it seems astonishing that either 

 eggs or the young can find a resting-place on cliffs so 

 severely precipitous. The nurseries formed a lively picture, 

 the parents coming and going with food or to seek it, thou- 



