The Mammalia and Birds of Franz Josef Land. 83 



10. Phoca barbata. 



Quite near to the land we met with Ground Seals, but not 

 in any great numbers. 



On an excursion to Bruce Island on the 23rd of May 1897, 

 Dr Koettlitz, Mr Wilton, Mr Hey ward, and myself came 

 across five seal-holes near that island, in the floes stretching 

 across Bates Channel. Seals were lying outside these holes. 

 Two of us tried to approach stealthily to see what kind of 

 Seals they were, but while we were yet a long way off, and 

 unable to make out what the species were, they had slipped 

 into the water. I measured one of these holes, it was 15 

 inches in diameter, through ice that was 4 feet thick, and 

 it was rather irregular in shape, not going quite perpen- 

 dicularly into the water. Dr Koettlitz and I found another 

 of these holes about midway between Cape Forbes and Bell 

 Island, whilst crossing the Nightingale Sound floe on 24th 

 May 1897. It was similar to the others ; we also saw some 

 others in the distance. It is very likely, I think, that most 

 of these were Saddle-back Seals' holes, although some may 

 have belonged to Floe-Eats (P. foetida). 



11. Trichechds eosmarus. 



Lastly there is the Walrus, which has become a notable 

 animal in the history of Franz Josef Land, since, for the 

 first time, in 1897, commerce tried its fortunes in this part of 

 the Arctic seas, because of the reports of walrus having been 

 seen plentifully by Leigh Smith, Nansen, and ourselves. 



Few people would associate this event with the extra- 

 ordinary development of the bicycle of late years ; yet since 

 walrus hide has been found to be the best material obtainable 

 for burnishing parts of these machines, it is natural that the 

 skin of this unfortunate animal should have risen to five or 

 six times the value it was two or three years previously, and 

 it is now worth about £10 in a full-grown animal. One of 

 the Scottish whalers — the '' Balsena " — obtained as many as 

 five hundred skins. It is, however, regrettable to note that 

 for every skin obtained two or three other animals must have 

 been lost, for they were shot in the water and sank to the 



