THE WALRUS 155 



finding himself at the end of his resources, 

 would have ignored Captain Baldwin's statement 

 rather than die of hunger. More particularly 

 so had he known that the Ziegler expedition 

 had returned to home waters six years 

 before ! 



We continued to follow the coast and came 

 upon the remains of an encampment. There 

 were tent-pegs, empty preserve bottles, sticks, 

 a leather shoe and a pair of felt snow-shoes, 

 which the bears and foxes that had visited the 

 spot, as was evident, had neglected. Next we 

 explored a little prairie lying at the foot of 

 the high basalt cliffs. We encountered every- 

 where running streams and vegetation very 

 prolific considering the latitude. There were 

 large anemones and various grasses and 

 mosses. 



I saw a snow-rustler leave a hollow in a 

 rock where doubtless it had its nest. High up 

 in the basalt cliffs nested thousands of mergules, 

 whose cries were deafening and who flew in 

 clouds. 



The mist, which had thinned, now permitted 

 us to see Allen Young Sound lying at our feet, 

 as still as a lake and affording us a splendid 

 spectacle. The channel, as far as we could see, 

 was studded with stranded or floating icebergs 



