Extracts from Diary of Nicolai Hanson. 91 



barely returned on board when I again saw a Seal some distance astern of 

 us. I took one of the Finns with me, and in a quarter of an hour we had 

 it in the boat ; it was one of the common white ones. This forenoon we 

 caught three large Penguins on the floe near which we were lying. They 

 swam round the ship and we had a good opportunity to study their way 

 of moving in the water. 



January 2^ih. — Killed three of the common Seals, and also two 

 Megalestris. Saw some Giant Petrels. These birds must have a very 

 keen sense of sight or smell, for no sooner is a Seal skinned on the ice 

 than they put in an appearance. 



January 27th. — Last night, soon after I had turned in, I was called up 

 by the cry : ' ' Seal on the ice ! " and I scrambled up on deck as fast as I 

 could. There were two Seals lying not very far off. Some of the crew 

 were already on the ice, but when I made a jump on to it, I missed my 

 footing and fell into the sea. I soon hauled myself up, however, on the 

 edge of the ice and ran off after the others, who were now some distance 

 off. As soon as I had shot the two Seals, a third crawled up on the ice, 

 and I immediately killed this one also. It was rather a chilly pastime to 

 travel about on the ice wet thi'ough, clad only in shirt and trousers and 

 sea-boots, and without either a cap or stockings. We have seen no 

 Whales to-day, and birds have been very scarce. 



January 28th. — About 4 p.m. a Seal was seen lying far in on an 

 immense floe, about two miles away fi'om the ship. Some of the crew went 

 with me to fetch it, and we had a splendid run on " Shi " over ice which 

 probably was several years old, as it was covered with large hummocks. The 

 Seal was a male of the rare, thick-necked species. He was shedding his 

 hair, and, to all appearance, he had been lying several days in the same 

 place where we found him, as there was a lot of hair and excrement 

 scattered round about on the ice, and, on opening the stomach, it was 

 found to be quite empty. Like the first I killed, the stomach and part of 

 the intestines was crowded with an immense number of worms. There 

 was hardly an inch thick of blubber on the skin. While three men 

 hauled the skin on board I took two men with me up to some adjacent 

 open water. The distance the Seal lay from the nearest open water was 

 not less than 1500 yards, and we walked along the lane towards the ship 

 to look for more Seals, but found none. Some Whales and White Seals 

 have been seen in the open lane. Few birds. Took the temperature of 

 the sea and found it to be + ^° Celsius at a depth of 1000 yards. 



January 2'dth. — Some Whales and Seals about to-day, I saw twenty 

 or thirty small Penguins. The Black Petrels and Cape Pigeons have 

 disappeared. 



January 30th. — This evening I shot four Silver Petrels and two Ice 

 Petrels. Some Whales and Seals have been seen, but none killed. At 

 3 A.M. when I came on deck to read off the thermometers, the watchman 

 told me he had seen five Seals close to the ship. One of them came up 

 with a fish about fifteen inches long. It was of a greyish colour and 

 shaped like a T0rsk (Brosmius vulgaris). All the birds I have seen to-day 

 are flying from S.W. to N.E. Are they migrating to softer climes? 



January 31st. — Killed three Seals of the common species to-day, and an 

 Ice Petrel. Since I came on board, I have often heard it said by old 

 sealers that they have seen Seals jump on the ice after being skinned ; 



