SEALS ON THE ICE. 23 



forty great seals and one bear ; they also in 

 formed us that the north coast of Spitzbergen, 

 which is usually considered the best hunting- 

 ground, was this year impracticable, on account 

 of large quantities of ice being jammed against 

 the coast at the north-west promontory, called 

 Hakluyt s Headland. 



On the 4th it was dead calm, and one of the 

 most beautiful, bright, sunny days imaginable ; 

 it even felt quite warm, although the thermo 

 meter was only 50 in the shade. &quot;We got a 

 boat out, and rowed for about six hours 

 amongst the ice, looking for seals, but only 

 saw three, all of whom managed to save their 

 blubber. 



On such a day as this, in these latitudes one 

 can see to immense distances with great dis 

 tinctness, and hills which we know by reckon 

 ing and observation to be forty or fifty miles 

 off, appear to the eye as if they were not more 

 than ten or twelve. This is, doubtless, owing- 

 to a very dry atmosphere, and also to the 

 greater flatness of the globe so near the pole 

 permitting a much larger horizon to be visible. 



In the evening we had drifted close up to 

 the brig beforementioned, and upon hailing her 

 I was pleased to find her the &quot; Nordbye,&quot; of 



c 4 



