48 SPITSBERGEN 



much of the geology and physical features of Spits- 

 bergen ; and we hear no more of the poverty of its 

 flora and fauna. Now it has become a summer tourist 

 resort we are yearly increasing our knowledge of this 

 land of no thunderstorms, for centuries the largest 

 uninhabited area on the globe, the only considerable 

 stretch on which there is no trace of human occupation 

 before its discovery by the moderns in 1596, when it 

 was found by Barents and his companions. 



