22 VOYAGE IJJTO 



at the top, like battlements ; at the bottom, within the hill, 

 stands a snow-hill, that doth reach to the very top of the 

 mountain, like a tree with branches and twigs ; the other 

 rocks look rudely. 



In this South Haten the ships ride at anchor, between 

 high mountains ; on the left as we sail into it is a hill, called 

 the Beehive ; called so from its resemblance to a hechicc ; 

 close to it lieth a large and high mount, called the DerAVs 

 Huck, commonly covered with a fogg, and if the wind 

 bloweth over it, it darkeneth the haven, and seemeth as if it 

 smoaked, filling the haven therewith : on the top thereof are 

 three small white hills covered with snow, two of them stand 

 near to one another. In the middle of this harbour is an 

 island, which is called the Deadman'' s Island, because they 

 bury the dead men there after this manner : they are put 

 into a coffin, and covered with a heap of large stones, and 

 notwithstanding all this they are sometimes eaten by the 

 white bears. 



I have seen no other sort of ground but great stones at 

 Spitzhergen, so that the frost cannot penetrate far into such 

 ground. I admired that the snow was at that time all melted 

 away, and in the cliffs between the great rocks was no more 

 snow to be seen, although the holes were very deep. I 

 fancy that abundance of rain had fallen in the spring, and 

 that the Aveather had been tolerable, or else we must have 

 seen more snow there. 



There are also more small islands here and there in this 

 harbour, that have no particular names, but are called Birds' 

 Islands, because we gather thereupon the eggs of mountain 

 ducks and kirmcums} 



Then you come to Schmeremburg, so named from schmer, 

 which signifieth <7rea5e ; there are still houses standing, for- 

 merly built by the Dutch, Avhere they used to boil their 



1 " Kirmcwcn,"' a species of gull f Lai^mj or tern (Sterna). 



