38 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



about a thousand yards from the place where we 

 disembarked. Our guide informed us that his 

 companions were walrus-hunting off Shannon 

 Island. How delightful it was for me to learn 

 this you may well imagine ! I was destined, 

 it seemed, everywhere to encounter men whose 

 sole business in life was to slaughter all animals 

 worth hunting. Four years earlier, at Cape 

 Bismarck, I had been compelled to stand and 

 watch the men of the Soestrene make carnage 

 among the walrus beneath my very eyes. 



Approaching the house, we passed several 

 caches built of stones, probably containing 

 grease or skins. We saw a beautiful little 

 canoe fitted with new paddles. The trappers, 

 having lost their own, had borrowed this from 

 the depot established on Bass Rock by the 

 Ziegler Expedition. They also possessed fishing 

 nets, with which they had taken two tons of 

 salmon from Clavering Fjord. 



The house was square. It was constructed 

 of wood and paper, the corners being protected 

 against the wind by bull skins. Altogether it 

 lacked comfort, and must have been intensely cold 

 during the winter. In order to escape being 

 frozen, it must have been necessary to remain 

 in bed with the stove constantly at red heat. 



The stove was supplied with coal from 



