DUCK SHOOTING 383 



ing in a remarkable manner the whole appearance of 

 our surroundings. 



When the storm was over I noticed that the little 

 auks, now that the ice was gone, flew much lower 

 when beyond the land than formerly when the sea 

 was frozen. For hours at a time I sat on the rocks 

 to watch great clouds of the birds flying hither and 

 thither, now showing black, now gleaming white, as 

 they wheeled in the sunlight, and so numerous that 

 their wings, in a continuous passage of flocks over my 

 head, gave forth a sound like escaping steam from a 

 locomotive boiler. 



With cessation of the wind I took a long walk over 

 the hills in search of young hares, which the Eskimos 

 told me should now be large enough to be out. I 

 wished to capture some to take home with me alive 

 as zoological specimens. In the course of my walk 

 I saw but one, and it was so exceedingly alive and so 

 good a sprinter that I could not catch it. I had no 

 salt with me, and the hare had no tail to put it on, 

 anyway. When I returned to camp I offered the 

 Eskimos some tobacco for every young hare they 

 brought me alive and uninjured, and had high hopes 

 that in a little while they would catch enough for my 

 purpose. Shortly after making them the offer, sev- 

 eral of the men started upon the quest and in less 

 than two hours Portlooner and Pennipar returned, 

 each with one captive. The young hares were very 

 pretty little things, exactly matching the rocks in 

 color. When three weeks of age they turn a snowy 



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