FOSSIL FKOM KUHN 



504 TnE GERMAN AECTIC EXPEDITION. 



meal. This day we saw a number of sea-gulls, and caught 

 an ermine, already in its summer dress, which we took 

 on board. The exertions of the previous days, our con- 

 stantly wet feet and boots, were beginning to tell upon 

 us. The feet began to swell, and Sengstacke and the 

 boatswain suffered much. At eleven p.m., on the 12th, 

 we began our third day's march, and soon reached the 

 summit of the foreland, the height of which we found to be 

 994 feet. Vegetation was here rather plentiful, the willow, 

 the dwarf birch, and a shrub somewhat „_ ^ 



resembling the pine, though not belong- 

 ing to this group. From here we 

 descended quickly to the shore, and 

 came upon a layer of coal clay about island. 



twelve yards thick, containing a number of fossils, which 

 were unfortunately lost. 



As we descended the slope to the coast, we saw walk- 

 ing along the shore a she-bear, and two cubs, the size of 

 a poodle, playing together, the mother taking no notice 

 of them whatever. No sooner did the young ones per- 

 ceive the hunter than they galloped towards their mother, 

 who in two strides turned and stood by them, with such 

 rage expressed in all her actions, that we knew we must 

 be careful; finding, however, that they were unhurt, 

 she seemed to think only of bringing them to a place of 

 safety. 



It was eleven p.m. on the loth of June when we pre- 

 pared ourselves for the most difficult and critical part of 

 our journey, the passage of the Fligely Fjord. We kept 

 on the northern side of the straits, until we came to the 

 narrowest part, according to Payer's chart, opposite a 

 tongue of land. The water was here from 111 feet to 125 



