The Journal of a Sporting Nomad 



The owners of the steamer in which we had 

 travelled to this place were of an enterprising 

 disposition, for they had brought with them a 

 hotel, every board and post of which, being made 

 of wood, was numbered. It had been already 

 put together before they left Norway, then taken 

 down and shipped to what was likely to be its 

 future destination, as the most northern house 

 in the world. All the spare hands on the steamer 

 now set about erecting this house. In a week it 

 was practically finished with the exception of 

 the roof, which was made of birch bark over 

 wooden battens and tarred felt, then finally 

 covered with semi-green sods cut from the fast- 

 thawing-out banks in the immediate vicinity. 

 I do not know whether the owners of this hotel 

 considered Spitzbergen a likely competitor to 

 the south of France. I think they must have 

 lost their money if that was their object, but 

 perhaps some day the doctors who order these 

 things may recognize the fact that Spitzbergen 

 is probably the healthiest country in the world. 

 It is practically impossible to catch cold there, 

 and should a person be suffering from such a 

 thing, I could almost guarantee a complete cure 

 after a residence of twenty-four hours. The 

 reasons for this may be summed up in the 

 following way. The island is nearly a thousand 

 miles due north of Norway, which is the nearest 

 inhabited land. To the east, west, and north, 



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