n8 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



by water. All ducks build their nests in the 

 same way ; that is, almost in the water. This 

 is because their webbed feet are little adapted 

 for walking. Swensen examined the nest and 

 found it empty. He was of the opinion that the 

 ducklings had been devoured by the foxes, 

 which are very numerous, and of which we 

 discovered many recent traces. 



Having come to the conclusion that little 

 sport was to be had in this region, we returned 

 aboard, raised anchor at nine o'clock, and re- 

 anchored before a deep valley in which, on the 

 preceding day, when we were navigating Lowe 

 Sound, Swensen had seen two reindeer. 



The weather was magnificent ; there was not 

 a cloud in the sky, and the wind had fallen. 

 The evening was grand beyond description. 

 Before us sparkled the glacier between the 

 triangular pyramids of the mountains, which 

 rose, all snow whitened, into a sky of the 

 deepest blue. The sea shone like a mirror ; 

 gulls and stercoraires fluttered about the old 

 blackened and torn moraines forming the shores 

 of the Sound. The picture was perfect ! 



We anchored at eleven o'clock on the northern 

 coast, near the mouth of the river along whose 

 banks Berners geese swarm. But now the 

 landscape was hidden by high peaks, and it 



