ericson's cargo. 243 



Poor Ericson has a pretty wife with a young 

 family in Tonsberg, and he must have gone home 

 to her with a heavy heart, for he has made but a 

 bad summer's "fishing" of it. Between Jan Mayen 

 and Spitzbergen, he has been away from home seven 

 months ; and his letter to me mentions that he has 

 only killed 270 Jan Mayen seals, 140 big Spitz- 

 bergen seals, 62 walruses, 4 bears, and 35 reindeer ; 

 a cargo which will afford but a miserable remu- 

 neration for eight* months' time of a brig carry- 

 ing twenty-four men, and constantly manning four 

 boats, and five upon an emergency. 



31st. Early in the morning we are off South 

 Cape, the sea quite free from ice and the weather 

 fine. I think storms are very local in Spitzbergen, 

 and it is probably as coarse as ever at Black Pointy 

 that stormy promontory where we encountered so 

 many fierce gales of wind. 



Very long, low, and dangerous reefs of rocks run 

 out many miles from the land all along the coast, 

 from South Cape to Ice Fiord. The mountains 

 are much higher and steeper than in East Spitz- 

 bergen. There is one enormous sugar-loaf-looking 

 peak, not far from South Cape. It appears to be 

 of granite, and is said to be the highest mountain 

 in Spitzbergen. This is evidently the mountain 

 described by Scoresby, who states its height to be 

 4500 feet ; although, judging by the eye, I should 

 have estimated it at considerably more. 



* Allowing one month to reach Tonsberg. 



