46 NEW LAND. 



naturally it was very annoying to be held nipped for such a length 

 of time. Nor could we do any work of value here ; what we did 

 was chiefly by way of passing the time. 



While we were lying-to off shore in this way I one day saw a 

 herd of animals which I thought were reindeer. Peder, of course, 

 was convinced that such was the case ; but later on I came to the 

 conclusion that they must have been hares. At that time we were 

 not aware that the hares in these tracts sometimes congregate 

 together in numbers. In this case there were some sixty or 

 seventy of them, or, possibly, the number may have been nearer a 

 hundred. It may well be thought that there could not be much 

 difficulty in distinguishing between reindeer and hares, but as a 

 matter of fact it is often anything but easy, and as the reader will 

 perhaps remember, even the most experienced walrus-catcher may 

 be mistaken. There were many on board who greatly wondered 

 what kind of animals these could be. One thing, however, is certain, 

 and that is that many times afterwards we saw numbers of hares 

 together, sometimes in the autumn as many as thirty animals at 

 once. 



I am inclined to think that it is very usual for the hares in 

 these tracts to flock together and change their grounds in the 

 winter months. What the reason for this may be I do not feel 

 able to say with certainty. The conditions of life up here are 

 different from what they are farther south. There are places in 

 the north where the wind in the winter blows month after month 

 from one prevailing direction. Winds like this will in the end 

 sweep with them for long distances all the snow on the ground, 

 leaving it quite bare ; while in other, less exposed, places the snow 

 is piled in drifts, and lies more undisturbed. Where the country 

 is most free of snow, and where at the same time the vegetation 

 is most vigorous, the hares, I should imagine, seek their winter 

 haunts, and in consequence of this the field wherein they disport 

 themselves becomes more restricted. 



That this is the one and only reason I would by no means 

 affirm ; but that their congregating together is more or less a 

 question of food seems to me very probable. What I do feel sure 

 of is that their motive is not defence against possible enemies, for 



