20 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



confidence of a fox leader so that it may in 

 turn lead others into the traps. 



The leader of the trappers informed me that 

 throughout the winter the thermometer had 

 not fallen below six degrees, and that they had 

 had practically no snow. As regards icebergs, 

 not one had appeared in the vicinity of the 

 island. 



From one of these men I bought a knife made 

 from the tusk of a walrus. One finds that all 

 these northern winterers have their own parti- 

 cular metiers which preserve them from the 

 ennui of the long northern nights. 



Before the door of the station I photographed 

 the group of hunters. To my great astonish- 

 ment, one of the men casually drew out of his 

 pocket a Kodak of the latest pattern with which 

 he photographed us in his turn. 



Accompanied by the leader of the hunters, 

 we set out to visit Mary Muss Bay, which is 

 situated to the north of the island corresponding 

 to the dried-up Flotsam Bay in the south, though 

 it is much smaller and is still occupied by the 

 sea. 



We passed through a veritable cemetery 

 composed of the bones and skulls of foxes and 

 birds of every description. An enormous trap 

 left by the Austrians, designed, judging from 



