TRAPPERS 27 



when alone on strange, desolate lands. I nad 

 to tear myself from the contemplation of this 

 spectacle to return aboard. As I went back, 

 I encountered quantities of debris in the form 

 of planed wood, together with a number of those 

 glass bowls used by the Norwegian netters. 

 They had probably been carried here by the 

 currents. I also observed a few sea-swallows 

 and stercoraires, birds rarely appearing in 

 these latitudes. 



Rejoining Joe and Merit e, who were shiver- 

 ing despite the large fire the men had built, 

 and having wished Andersen farewell, we re- 

 embarked at two o'clock in the morning, half 

 frozen, but wholly contented with the result of 

 our excursion and deeply stirred by the wonder- 

 ful spectacle we had just contemplated. 



A few hours later we proceeded on our way, 

 killing seals and bears as we went. Sometimes 

 the ice delayed us, but for the most part we 

 were able to navigate the immense canals, 

 several thousand yards wide, which rendered 

 access to the Greenland coasts exceptionally 

 easy that year. As a matter of fact, the way 

 was free as far as the land ice surrounding 

 Cape Hold With Hope, where we arrived on 

 June 27. The Belgica was, without loss of 

 time, anchored to the ice, and I set off on the 



