BERGEN TO TROMSO n 



gulls, which seemed (and I watched them very carefully 

 through the glass) to take bits of fish from the creatures' 

 mouths. They would hang above the animal's track, 

 following with keen eyes its course under water, and as 

 soon as ever it neared the surface came down upon its 

 head in a fighting, screaming cloud. The different 

 species of Delphinidre are always very puzzling to me. 

 I fancy only years of watching in these waters can make 

 you sure. James Smith at the wheel said he knew very 

 well that these were ' Herring Puffers,' and when I asked 

 him how he knew, he answered, ' Because they were 

 smaller than " Herring Hogs," and seeing me look 

 doubtful, he smiled pityingly — the conclusion was so 

 clear. 



There were also many red-throated divers in this 

 fjord, as in all the rest. 



Where the whirlpool is beneath Mount Bentsiortenden, 

 nine miles below Tromso, we saw our first herd of 

 reindeer coming down across the fjells. Knutsen said 

 that they cross about here, returning in September, 

 thoueh the water is two and a half miles wide, and the 

 current so formidable that, catching the Saxon under full 

 steam, it half swung her round. 



Just as we were dropping anchor under Tromso, 

 which we reached at 2.30 p.m. (788 miles in two hours 

 short of four days), I noticed among a lot of common 

 eiders, right across the water, one that somehow seemed 

 distinct from the rest. Presently all these birds rose, 



