The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 
The owners of the steamer in which we had 
travelled to this place were of an enterprising 
disposition, for they had brought with them a 
hotel, every board and post of which, being made 
of wood, was numbered. It had been already 
put together before they left Norway, then taken 
down and shipped to what was likely to be its 
future destination, as the most northern house 
in the world. All the spare hands on the steamer 
now set about erecting this house. In a week it 
was practically finished with the exception of 
the roof, which was made of birch bark over 
wooden battens and tarred felt, then finally 
covered with semi-green sods cut from the fast- 
thawing-out banks in the immediate vicinity. 
I do not know whether the owners of this hotel 
considered Spitzbergen a likely competitor to 
the south of France. I think they must have 
lost their money if that was their object, but 
perhaps some day the doctors who order these 
things may recognize the fact that Spitzbergen 
is probably the healthiest country in the world. 
It is practically impossible to catch cold there, 
and should a person be suffering from such a 
thing, I could almost guarantee a complete cure 
after a residence of twenty-four hours. The 
reasons for this may be summed up in the 
following way. The island is nearly a thousand 
miles due north of Norway, which is the nearest 
inhabited land. To the east, west, and north, 
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