SHARK-FISHERY. 33 



have very little doubt that, if the dal-ripas were 

 taken to Scotland, or the red grouse to Norway, a 

 few generations would be sufficient to cause them 

 ' to resemble exactly the variety existing in the coun- 

 try to which they were transferred. 



On the evening of the 28th we got the new boats 

 on board the yacht, having first deposited her frail 

 Cowes gigs in a warehouse ashore, and at 1 A.M. 

 on the 29th I turned the hands up to make sail for 

 Spitzbergen. The wind was very light, and it was 

 long before we got out of sight of the island of So- 

 roen. 



On the 30th we passed a small vessel engaged in 

 the shark-fishery. This singular pursuit is carried 

 on extensively in the seas lying between Finmarken 

 and Bear Island, where the soundings vary from 

 100 to 150 fathoms, and the modus operandi is to 

 anchor by long, light hempen cables at about that 

 depth, and then put overboard their lines baited 

 with seal's blubber. When they get a "nibble, 1 ' 

 they drag their victim de profundis by means of a 

 windlass, and when he appears at the surface they 

 farther secure him with harpoons, and dispatch him 

 with spears and axes. The arctic shark (Squalus 

 Groenlandicus or Borealis) is very large, and his 

 liver, which is the sole object of his persecution, af- 



A species of grouse or ptarmigan is also well known to in- 

 habit Spitzbergen, but I never was fortunate enough to see 

 one, although very anxious to procure a skin, as I believe a 

 specimen does not exist in any of the museums of Europe. 



c 



