Chap, III. CAPTAIN DAVID BUCHAN. 69 



cloudy and misty weather, when the hills are 

 clothed with new-fallen snow and all appears dreary 

 and desolate. The radiation of the sun, he ob- 

 serves, in some sheltered situation, is so powerful 

 during two hours on either side of noon, that they 

 frequently observed the thermometer upon the ice 

 in the offing at 58°, 62°, 67°; and once at mid- 

 night it rose to 73°, although in the shade at the 

 same time it was only 36°. Hence are found va- 

 rieties of Alpine plants, grasses, and lichens, such 

 as in the more southern aspects flourish in great 

 luxuriance : they are here found ascending to a 

 considerable height, " so that," says Beechey, " we 

 have frequently seen the rein-deer browsing at an 

 elevation of fifteen hundred feet." 



On account of the mildness of the temperature, 

 the shores of Spitzbergen are frequented by multi- 

 tudes of animals of various descriptions. " From 

 an early hour in the morning until the period of 

 rest returned, the shores around us reverberated 

 with the merry cry of the little auk, willocks, 

 divers, cormorants, gulls, and other aquatic birds ; 

 and wherever we went, groups of walruses basking 

 in the sun mingled their playful roar with the 

 husky bark of the seal." The little auks or rotges 

 (the Alca alle) are stated to be so numerous, that 

 " we have frequently seen an uninterrupted line of 

 them extending full half way over the bay, or to a 

 distance of more than three miles, and so close 

 together, that thirty have fallen at one shot. This 



