U4 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



its flight and so give me time for a second shot. 

 As I anticipated, the female instantly took to 

 flight when I had shot the male, but, in turning 

 to look for its fallen mate, it gave me the 

 anticipated opportunity, and with two shots 

 I brought it down. Both the deer were large 

 and well fleshed, and served the purpose of 

 supplying us with a fair quantity of fresh meat. 

 Hardly were the animals dead, and before the 

 sailors had rejoined us, when the gulls and 

 stercoraires which had been circling above us 

 settled on the carcasses. Five minutes before 

 not a bird had been in sight. Where they came 

 from is a mystery ! The animals were cleaned, 

 their fore feet tied together, and each sailor 

 carried one on his back to the boat. I thought 

 of returning with the men, but the Captain was 

 confident we would discover other reindeer in the 

 little valley winding in and out of the moraine, 

 which extends to the foot of the mountains on 

 the northern side of Lowe Sound. We therefore 

 set out to explore further. This plain deserves 

 description. It is composed of a series of 

 frozen hillocks, separated by small lakes and 

 twisting ravines. Everywhere there is a thick 

 bed of shells of all kinds, among which I 

 particularly noticed St. Jacques' Shell, or the 

 Great Comb. Manifestly, the plain must have 



