435 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



coast, two large coveys of ptarmigan, one of wliich probably 

 numbered over fifty. Nearer the coast, on the other hand, there 

 were found, especially during spring, for the most part only single 

 birds. The raven is common at the Chukch villages, and builds 

 its nest in the neighbouring cliffs. The first eo^g was got on the 

 31st May. The mountain owl was seen for the first time on the 

 11th March, but, according to the statements of the Chukches, 

 it is to be met with during the whole winter. In April and May 

 we also saw some mountain owls ; on the 21st May I saw two. 



" At open places in the sea there are found here in winter, the 

 Chukches say, two swimming birds, the loom ( Uria Brunnichii, 

 Sabine) and the hlaclc guillemot {Uria grylle, L.). Of the 

 former we obtained two specimens for the first time on the 

 1st May, of the latter on the 19th of the same month. 

 Possibly there winter in open places of the sea besides these 

 birds a species of Mergulus, one of which came to the winter 

 quarters of the Vega on the 3rd November, and a Fuligula, a 

 specimen of which was sold to us on the 9th March by a 

 Chukch, who said he had killed it at a clearing off the coast." 



After the arrival of the migratory birds hunting excursions 

 began to form a welcome interruption in our monotonous winter 

 life, and the produce of the hunting a no less agreeable change 

 from the preserved provisions. The Chukches besides offered 

 us daily a large number of different kinds of birds, especially 

 when they observed that we paid a higher price for many rare 

 kinds of birds, though small and of little use for food, than for 

 a big, fat goose. The Chukches killed small birds either by 

 throwing stones, or by shooting them with bow and arrows, in 

 connection with which it may be observed that most of them 

 were very poor archers. They also caught them with whale- 

 bone snares set on bare spots on the beach, generally between 

 two vertebrae of the whale. For pebbles are very scarce, but 

 the bones of the whale are found, as has been already stated, at 

 most places in large numbers on the strand-banks where the 

 tents are pitched. In June we began to get eggs of the gull, 

 eider, long-tailed duck, goose, and loom, in sufficient number for 

 table use. The supply, however, was by no means so abundant 

 as during the hatching season on Greenland, Spitzbergen, or 

 Novaya Zemlya. 



A little way from the vessel there were formed, in the end of 

 May, two "leads," a few fathoms in breadth. On the 31st May 

 I sent some men to dredge at these places. They returned 

 with an abundant yield, but unfortunately the openings closed 

 again the next day, and when I and Lieutenant Bove visited 

 the place there was a large, newly-formed toross thrown up along 



