Birds of Westei-n Sjntzbergen. 169 



Kestrel {Tinnunculus alaudarius, Gray), and as noiselessly as an 

 Owl, coming sometimes within arm's-length. Black Guillemots 

 {Una grylle, Lath.) were also numerous. 



On the 24th (after having been reminded by our old cook, in 

 broken English, of its being Midsummer-day, — a fact we might, 

 from the state of the weather, have well overlooked) we reached 

 the entrance of Ice Sound, a very extensive fjord stretching away 

 inland as far as the eye could reach. The mist clearing off dis- 

 played some fine mountains on which the sun shone warmly, 

 and we had a bright blue sky overhead, the first we had ex- 

 perienced since we sighted Spitzbergen. But our fine weather 

 was of short duration; in the evening it clouded over, snow 

 fell for about an hour, and the wind freshened to a gale, which 

 drove us some thirteen or fourteen miles up the fjord, where 

 we found the ice yet unbroken. The following morning we 

 entered a little inlet on the north side of the Sound called 

 Safe Haven, and cast anchor under the shelter of a line of 

 ice-cliffs which rose from the water's edge to a great height, 

 and terminated in beautiful peaks. This magnificent glacier was 

 backed by a stupendous pointed and almost overhanging moun- 

 tain, the Aiken Fels, with one pinnacle above another towering 

 into the clouds, and presenting the most varied and picturesque 

 outline during the few short intervals when its lofty summit 

 was free from the almost incessant mist of this inhospitable 

 region. One of the peaks, which rose from the shore to the 

 height of about 900 feet, and stood out from the rest like an im- 

 mense horn, was literally alive with swarms of Fulmars, Briin- 

 nich's Guillemots, Black Guillemots, and Kittiwakes {Rissa 

 tridadyla, Macgill.), which had their nests in its inaccessible 

 fastnesses, secure from the depredations of man or beast ; and 

 their cries, occasionally overpowered by the roar of an avalanche, 

 alone disturbed the silence of this Arctic bay. 



During the time we lay here we made many excursions along 

 the shores of the fjord ; but the depth of the now melt ing snow 

 prevented us from going any distance inland. On one occasion^ 

 after ascending about two-thirds of a high mountain, we shot a 

 few birds, including a brace of Ptarmigan. We afterwards 

 found these birds very abundant and exceedingly tame; but 



