34 o SPITSBERGEN chap, xxv 



spring, but such davs are not, of course, a majority. Usually 

 the weather is cold, and warm clothing is a necessity, 

 especially on board ship. Ordinary winter clothes suf- 

 fice ; but a good fur-lined overcoat will be found a 

 blessing. Very convenient fur-lined pea-jackets, with holes 

 in front for the hands, are sold cheaply at Bergen and 

 Trondhjem. 



Advent Bay is not a specially interesting centre for 

 Spitsbergen. The energetic traveller will, however, be able 

 to find congenial employment in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood. He can climb Mount Nordenskjold, if there is a 

 chance of a view, and thence look abroad over the whole 

 interior of the island. A very vigorous walker might even 

 make the still more profitable ascent of Fox Peak in an 

 eighteen hours' walk. The hills on the west side of the 

 bay have never been ascended, and there is an important 

 valley leading into the midst of them and debouching on 

 Ice Fjord just outside the entrance to Advent Bay, which 

 has never been explored. Ordinary visitors, however, will 

 do best to take advantage of one of the little steamers and 

 make an excursion round Ice Fjord to Sassen Bay, Temple 

 Mountain, Klaas Billen Bay, and Cape Thordsen. The 

 ascent of any hill in these directions is better worth while 

 than an ascent from Advent Point. 



The most interesting part of Spitsbergen for a rapid 

 view is, however, not Ice Fjord, but the west coast and 

 bays north of it. Here the mountains are formed of the 

 hardest and most ancient rocks ; their forms are precipi- 

 tous, and they are adorned with needle-pointed crests and 

 summits, resembling the Aiguilles of Chamonix. Moreover, 

 here glaciers are more numerous and grand than farther 

 south. An expedition to the north-west corner of the 

 island is therefore an essential part of any well-conceived 

 visit to Spitsbergen, however brief. Historically, too, this 



