38 



SPITSBERGEN 



CHAP. Ill 



A few minutes later we were again upon the ship. A brief 

 passage carried us into the open sea, and our course was 

 finally set for Spitsbergen. 



Of what happened during the next twenty-four hours I 

 have but the vaguest idea. The sea was what its admirers 

 might call calm. There were no white caps on it, but a long 

 rolling swell came from the south-west, enough to keep one 



A WHALING ESTABLISHMENT. 



miserable, even without the marrow-freezing wind. So I 

 remained in my bunk and read, till the boredom of inactivity 

 became intolerable. Meanwhile exterior surroundings were, 

 I believe, interesting enough. Whales spouted, and two 

 tinners came within a harpoon-throw of the ship's side. The 

 proper birds appeared in due succession. Little auks scurried 

 about in flocks, or flapped along the surface of the water, 

 and then dived beneath it in a hurry ; fulmar petrels flew 

 gracefully around and scudded along incredibly close to the 



