SPRING JOURNEYS, 1901. 



161 



ptarmigan, so it is little wonder that I almost felt as if I was in a 

 cattle enclosure at home. Nothing was wanting but the bells. 



And such vegetation on both sides of the fjord the most 

 luxuriant we had yet seen ! I hoped to be able to get a glimpse 

 of it all later on, when the fjord was in its summer beauty. 



Good as was this country for big game, it seemed to be no less 

 so as far as ground game was concerned. I saw numbers of hares 

 on the slopes, many of which I could have bagged, but the home- 



MOUNTAINS FROM HKUBEKA SOUND. 



ward way was long, and no more fresh meat was wanted just at 

 present. 



In camp that evening I learned that Fosheim also thought we 

 ought not to attempt pushing on up the fjord, but should do better 

 to drive out again and try another passage farther west. In this 

 loose snow, moreover, where the heavily loaded sledges sank through 

 to the stones beneath, our wooden over-runners would be worn out 

 in a couple of days. The distance from our camping-place to the 

 head of the fjord Fosheim thought to be twelve or thirteen miles. 



VOL. II. M 



