SPli/.BI'RGKN ANMJ GREENLAND. 11 



basic in cutting the fat of a icJiale, Avlicn the fish burst with 

 so great a bounce as if a cannon had been discharged, and 

 bespattered the workmen all over.' 



On the 8th, the wind turned north-west, with snow and 

 rain. We were forced to leave one of our anchors, and 

 thank'd God for getting off from land^ for the ice came on 

 fiercely upon us ; at night the wind was laid, and it was 

 colder, although the sun shined. 



On the 9tli, we got another male icliale, being the eighth, 

 ■which was yellow underneath the head ; we filled with him 

 fifty-four kardels of fat ; the sun shined all night. 



On the 12th, we had gloomy sunshine all day, at night we 

 sailed with three boats into the ice before the JVcigatt, and 

 got three white bears,^ an old one and two young ones, they 

 swam in the water like fish. On the ice lay abundance of 

 sea-horses, and the further we came into the ice there were 

 the more of them ; we rowed up to them, and when we came 

 near to them Ave killed ten of them ; the rest came all about 

 our boat, and beat holes through the sides of the boat, so 

 that we took in abundance of water ; we were forced at 

 length to row away because of their great number, for they 

 gathered themselves more and more together ; they pursued 

 us as long as we could see them, very furiously. Afterwards 

 we met with another very great one, Avho lay in the Avater 

 fast asleep, but when he felt our harpoon Avithin him he Avas 

 very much frightened, and ran aAvay before the boat again, 

 where he Avas soon eased of his fright by our lances. We 

 saw but very few ivhales more, and those Ave did see Avere 

 quite Avild, that Ave could not come near them. That night 



^ Putrefaction had commenced. Captain (now the Rev. Dr.) Scoresby 

 tells us, that at such a time " the whale svrells to an enormous size, until 

 at least a third of the carcase appears above water, and sometimes the 

 body is burst by the force of the air generated within." — Arctic Regions, \, 

 p. 466. 



^ The Polar bear ( Thnlassarctos maritimus), the despot of the Arctic 

 regions. See Appendix. 



