576 Mr. A. Trevor-Battye on the 



material from point to point, is not good for a naturalist. It 

 is heavy and is designed to be pulled by a crew of four 

 trained whaling-men. We had but one man : at first a 

 young man, Carl, who hated hard work ; and later an old 

 man, who was, moreover, suffering from lumbago during 

 the whole of our visits to the northern inlets. The hard 

 work therefore fell to my companion, Mr. H. E. Conway 

 (Sir Martin Conway's cousin, artist to the expedition) and 

 myself. As good healthy exercise we enjoyed this well 

 enough; but while you are labouring in the heavy seas 

 the precious moments go by, and you finally arrive at 

 your hunting-ground tired and not fresh. Any naturalist 

 who may contemplate a voyage to Spitsbergen will be well 

 advised to take a steam-launch, and thus he would (ice 

 permitting) command any favourable points during the short 

 breeding-season. Running into a bay he could search the 

 valley in a single walk, and, instead of camping for rest 

 and sleep, could be off again and miles away in a few hours 

 at his next point. It is necessary to remember that there 

 is all the difference in the world between a high Arctic 

 breeding-ground and one further south. In a district of 

 mountain, lake, and woodland, on the tundra with its streams 

 and willow-scrub, in short, in almost any district other than 

 that of the Spitsbergen valleys, it pays best to settle down 

 and work one definite area thoroughly. But here there is, 

 speaking generally, no cover, and the birds belong to the 

 species which show. The Waders are always moving, the 

 Geese can be seen a mile away, and though the ducks may 

 be sitting closely, their drakes will be in evidence. This is 

 not to say that a rapid survey is better than a close one. 

 What I do say is this : that if, to-day, you take a general 

 walk up one side of a Spitsbergen valley and down the other, 

 keeping your eyes about you, examining feathers and other 

 signs, you will have a very shrewd idea of what that valley 

 contains. If on the following day you take a less extended 

 walk, but go carefully and slowly, prepared for surprises and 

 searching every spot with your glasses, you are as likely as 

 not to see even less than on the day before. But there is 



