Extracts from Diary of Nicolai Hanson. 89 



the teeth, the six Seals first killed were very old, as the teeth were very 

 dark and worn. Have preserved the two Emperor Penguins I shot 

 yesterday, and, on opening their stomachs, my conjecture as to the 

 moulting bird not having been in the water for some time was proved to 

 be true ; for in it were found only some beaks of Octopus, stones, and a 

 green substance, which in appearance was most like the brown vegetable 

 substance found underneath the ice-floes. The stomach of the other bird 

 was, on the contrary, quite full of different fishes, fragments of shi'imps, 

 and small stones. These last, I suppose, are meant to assist digestion, 

 although the stomach does not appear constructed for this kind of 

 assistance. 



Jamiary 20th. — Another fact which goes to prove that we are far from 

 open water is, that the number of birds decreases from day to day. To- 

 day the bird-life about us has been very poor. I have, however, obtained 

 a new bird, a Skua-Gull. The body is somewhat bigger than that of our 

 Skua {Lestvis parasiticus) at home, but the tail is shorter, and the wings are 

 not so pointed. It has no claw on the hind toe ; on the wings there is a 

 white spot at the base of the spurious wing-feathers ; the two middle 

 tail-feathers are about f inch longer than the others. Besides this I shot 

 an 0. oceanicus. 



I also killed three Seals to-day — the prettiest I have seen yet. One 

 was a female of the common White Seal, but the other two were of a 

 dark grey colour, with lighter spots and black flippei's. These two were 

 male and female. Both the females had tumours in their inner sexual 

 organs, which in the doctor's opinion had made them sterile. The milt 

 of the male was also diseased (tubercles ?). This, with the ovaries of the 

 females, I preserved in spirits. 



January 2lst. — While the ship was going through the ice to-day I saw 

 numbers of Penguins of the small species (Pygoscelis adeliae). In the 

 largest flock I counted nine on one floe, but ordinarily they sat two and 

 two together. Saw one white-throated and one black-throated Penguin 

 sitting together. This is the first perfectly white-throated Penguin I 

 have seen as yet. The first I shot was nearly pure white under the 

 throat. About 1 p.m., I observed a large Penguin far away on a 

 large floe, and the ship was at once turned towards it and stopped. As 

 we were slowly passing along the edge of the floe, we saw a Seal scamper 

 away and hide between some large hummocks ; but I wanted to secure 

 the Penguin, which I considered of more value to me than the Seal. 

 After some racing, I added my third Emperor Penguin for the collection. 

 One of my companions brought the bird on board, while I went after the 

 Seal. I soon reached him behind the hummocks and came within range 

 of him ; but, just as I peeped out, he caught sight of me and made off" again 

 at a great speed, which is faster than a man can run, when there is a 

 little snow on the ice. But his speed availed him little, for a ball through 

 the neck settled him at once. If the Seal had been surprised on seeing 

 me, I was no less surprised when I came near to him, for a stranger animal 

 I had never' seen. The head was short and thick, with large eyes and a 

 terribly big lower jaw ; no molar teeth, and only two front teeth in the 

 lower jaw and six in the upper jaw. These teeth were sharp as awls, and 

 shaped like ordinary carnivorous cutting teeth. The tail was short and 

 narrow ; he had nails on all toes, before and behind, and his hind-flippers 



