388 AN ENLIVENING SCENE. 



journey to the glacier occupied me a week. We 

 pitched our tent near Alida Lake, and went systemat- 

 ically to work to measure and photograph our old ac- 

 quaintance of the last autumn. 



We arrived at the lake in the midst of a very en- 

 livening scene. The snow had mainly disappeared 

 from the valley, and, although no flowers had yet ap- 

 peared, the early vegetation was covering the banks 

 witii green, and the feeble growths opened their little 

 leaves almost under the very snow, and stood alive 

 and fresh in the frozen turf, looking as glad of the 

 spring as their more ambitious cousins of the warm 

 south. Numerous small herds of reindeer had come 

 down from the mountains to fatten on this newly 

 budding life. Gushing rivulets and fantastic water- 

 falls mingled their pleasant music with the ceaseless 

 hum of birds, myriads of which sat upon the rocks of 

 the hill-side, or were perched upon the cliffs, or sailed 

 through the air in swarms so thick that they seemed 

 like a dark cloud passing before the sun. These birds 

 were the hitherto mentioned little auk [uria alloB), 

 and are a water-fowl not larger than a quail. The 

 swifl flutter of their wings and their constant cry 

 filled the air with .a roar like that of a storm ad- 

 vancing among the forest trees. The valley was glow- 

 ing with the sunlight of the early morning, which 

 streamed in over the glacier, and robed hill, mountain, 

 and plain in brightness. 



Hans had pitched his tent at the further end of the 

 lake, and Kalutunah came up with Myouk and Ala- 

 counts.'* The collection embraces, of Crustacea^ 22 species; Annelida, 18 

 species; Mollxisca,2\ species; Echinodermata, 7 species; Acalephce, 1 spe- 

 cie ; and, besides these, a considerable number of Nudibranchiata, Ac 

 HnicBf etc., which cannot well be determined from alcoholic specimens. 



