40 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



disdained in thin days. The guillemot is care- 

 fully cleaned so that no fat remains and it 

 is then pickled for two days. The pectoral 

 muscles, very large in these birds, are then 

 detached. The bird is first boiled, then roasted 

 in butter and served. It is impossible to 

 imagine a more delicious dish, especially when 

 it is seasoned with an Arctic appetite ! 



The petrel is not edible, and smells disgust- 

 ingly like carrion ; one might just as well seek to 

 eat a vulture. 



During six months of the year it is impossible 

 to obtain any fresh meat at Jan May en, for 

 the guillemot and other edible birds migrate, 

 leaving only the petrel behind. It seems to me 

 that this is why scurvy is so greatly to be 

 feared there, while on the coasts of Greenland, 

 where it is possible throughout the whole year 

 to obtain bulls, bears and seals, the complaint 

 rarely appears. 



Aboard the Belgica I had replaced lime- 

 juice, which the men detested, with whortle- 

 berries, which are obtained very cheaply in 

 Norway. The substitution was thankfully re- 

 ceived, and I am convinced that fruit, so 

 easily preserved in these regions, will inevitably 

 be included among the essential provisions 

 of future Polar expeditions. 



