172 Messrs. Evans and Sturge on the 



cies they were ; but judging from our recollection, they had flesh- 

 coloured legs and light-grey shoulders ; we have not, there- 

 fore, much doubt that they were the Grey-lag Goose [Aiiser ferus, 

 Steph.j. The identification of this bifd is a point to which, we 

 trust, future voyagers will pay attention ; it is probably the only 

 species observed by us which is not included in J. C. Rosses list, 

 before mentioned. 



Richardson's Skua {Stercorarius parasiticus, Gray) we saw 

 tormenting, as is the manner everywhere of this feathered pirate, 

 almost every flock of Kittiwakes, Gulls, or Terns ; but we found 

 neither nests nor eggs of it. We observed one individual of 

 the uniform bluish-black variety. 



Puffins were by no means abundant ; but all we saw, we feel 

 sure, were of the Northern species {Fratercula glacialis), and not 

 the common one [F. arctica), which has been stated to occur in 

 Spitzbergen. We are unable, too, to see any distinguishing 

 points between the Black Guillemots we procured there and 

 those from more southern localities, though the former have 

 been described as diff"erent by Lichtenstein, under the name of 

 Uria mandti. 



In the evening of the 1st of Seventh month (July) we 

 weighed anchor to return southwards, but we were not clear of 

 the Sound till the following night. The wind, however, com- 

 pelled us to run to the northward ; and, after being obliged again 

 to return to our old position, it was not until the 5th that we 

 made a fair start from Ice Sound. Even then the alternate 

 gales and calms, so characteristic of the Arctic Ocean, impeded 

 our voyage. The midnight of the 7th and 8th was a beautiful 

 one ; the wind had died away, and we sat on the deck enjoying 

 the warm glow of the sun, as it shone fully out over the sea, 

 a thick white haze stretching along the coast, above which the 

 rugged mountains towered majestically against the clear blue sky. 

 A company of Fulmars here and there, floating so sound asleep 

 on the sparkling waters as almost to be fouled by the vessel as 

 she slowly drifted on, or lazily picking about for their supper, 

 — a few Guillemots now and then whizzing by, — the Little Auks 

 skimming hither and thither in all directions, — a solitary Puffin 

 searching for his food, and an Arctic Tern gracefully poising 



