CHAPTER X 



Spitzbergen Firmer Whales A Sealing Crew's Fate Rein- 

 deer Belugas or White Whales An dree and his Balloon 

 Andree's Cooking-stove Catching Gulls Eider-down. 



Therefore a health to all that shot and miss'd. 



Taming of the Shreic. 



IN the spring of 1896 I was asked to accom- 

 pany Sir Martin Conway to Spitzbergen, 

 and had but three days in which to make 

 up my mind. Eventually 'I decided to join the 

 party, and make myself as useful as possible. 

 The idea of this expedition was to explore the 

 island, and if possible to cross from Ice Fjord to 

 the other side. 



On arriving at Trondhjem I tried to buy some 

 small iron rat-traps to catch birds, and the search 

 for these things was a long one. When I found 

 what I needed I padded the jaws with tow, so 

 that there could be no possibility of breaking 

 the leg of anything I might be able to catch. I 

 was very anxious to bring home with me some 

 live specimens of the ivory gull, glaucous gull, 

 and the different species of skua. 



After leaving the North Cape the nights 

 became shorter the farther north we went, until 



'47 



