CO ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN SEAS. 



merchants before they start, and so I believe it is 

 usual for the owners to compound with the crew 

 for the third of the cargo belonging to them by 

 giving them a certain sum per walrus and per seal 

 whenever they arrive, and as the poor ignorant 

 men know nothing of the price-current of seal-oil, 

 etc., in the markets of Hamburg or Bremen, and 

 are naturally anxious to "realize" at once, I am 

 afraid they are generally induced or intimidated 

 into parting with their share of the hard-earned 

 spoil at far below its market value. In fact, the 

 "truck system" in all its iniquity prevails. 



Our own crew, having been engaged so late in 

 the summer as to render it unlikely that we should 

 be able to get a full cargo, and also with the view 

 of rendering them more entirely dependent on our 

 wishes, were not engaged on this system, but got in- 

 stead money wages at double the rate usual in Nor- 

 way. This double pay was about equal in amount 

 to that of the English sailors in my yacht. 



I shot a large seal in the evening. 



10th, Sunday. Thick, cold, raw fog all day; ropes 

 all incrusted with ice, which falls down clattering 

 on the deck every time any thing shakes. I begin 

 to suffer a good deal from chilblains on the feet, an 

 ailment I have not been addicted to since I was a 

 schoolboy, cetat. eleven. This is perhaps not alto- 

 gether to be wondered at, as the thermometer in our 

 cabin ranges between 36° and 44°, and we sit in 

 our fur great-coats and fur boots in order to avoid 



