TRAPPERS 33 



the ice-locked bay, whilst on the other side it is 

 a basalt cliff washed by the sea. 



We approached the land cautiously. I 

 studied it from the bridge, scrutinising every 

 rock and hollow in the hope of discovering either 

 a bear, a bull, or a walrus. A grotesque mass 

 suddenly attracted and held my attention. I 

 studied it through the binoculars, and to my 

 immense astonishment discovered it to be a 

 wooden house surrounded by casks. I pointed 

 it out to my companions. Our disgust was inex- 

 pressible. We had come to lands reputed to be 

 uninhabited, and yet wherever we turned we 

 encountered civilisation, or that which served 

 to recall civilisation to our minds. At first we 

 thought a hut had been erected by the trappers 

 of some hunting expedition, and was now 

 abandoned. Our delusion was not long-lived, 

 for while I still watched, a man emerged from 

 the hut. Humanitarian considerations com- 

 pelled us onwards. There were human beings 

 on the island. They might be shipwrecked 

 sailors or, even were this not so, they might 

 be sick men requiring medical attention. 

 Charity compelled me to go ashore to investigate 

 and place my services at their disposal. 



Merite was busy in his cabin, and thought I 

 was joking when I entered and announced the 



