SEALS ON THE ICE. 37 



more than thirty walruses; they themselves had 

 twenty, with forty great seals and one bear ; they 

 also informed us that the north coast of Spitz- 

 bergen, which is usually considered the best hunt- 

 ing-ground, was this year impracticable on account 

 of large quantities of ice being jammed against the 

 coast at the northwest promontory, called Hakluyt's 

 Headland. 



On the 4th it was dead calm, and one of the 

 most beautiful, bright, sunny days imaginable ; it 

 even felt quite warm, although the thermometer 

 was only 50° in the shade. We got a boat out, 

 and rowed for about six hours among the ice, look- 

 ing for seals, but only saw three, all of whom man- 

 aged to save their blubber. 



On such a day as this, in these latitudes, one can 

 see to immense distances with great distinctness, 

 and hills which we know by reckoning and ob- 

 servation to be forty or fifty miles off, appear to 

 the eye as if they were not more than ten or 

 twelve. This is, doubtless, owing to a very dry 

 atmosphere, and also to the great flatness of the 

 globe so near the pole permitting a much larger 

 horizon to be visible. 



In the evening we had drifted close up to the 

 brig before mentioned, and upoto hailing her I was 

 pleased to find her the "Nordbye," of Tonsberg, 

 the same brig I had met last summer among the 

 Thousand Islands, and whose master had initiated 

 me into the exciting sport of harpooning the wal- 



