88 VOYAGE INTO 



again. The hur germeister doth eat his dung, as is said before 

 when I writ of the birds. The sea-horses keep generally 

 about Spitzbergen, for amongst the ice-hills I saw none.' 

 They lye upon the ice, as I have already mentioned in the 

 first part, by the 12th of July, very nastily, as the scales in 

 great numbers, and roar most terribly. They dive with their 

 head under the water before, like the scales. They sleep 

 and snore, not only upon the ice, but also in the water, so 

 that we take them several times for dead ones. 



They are very stout and undaunted creatures ; they stand 

 by one another as long as they have life, and if any of them 

 be wounded they make to the long-boat, notwithstanding 

 that the men strike and cut and push at them ; some will 

 dive under the water near unto the long-boats, and cut holes 

 in them with their great teeth under water ; and others with- 

 out any fear at all make to the boat, and stand up with half 

 their body out of the water, and endeavour to get into the 

 boat. 



In such a battel a sea-horse did once strike with his teetJi 

 or tushes into the boat, and took hold of our harponier with 

 his long tooth, between his shirt and the waistband of his 

 breeches, so that the waistband broke, otherwise he had 

 pulled him under water. 



When they roar, if they are imitated, they strive which 

 shall get underneath the water, and fall a fighting and biting 

 one another till they fetch blood : others strive to set at 

 liberty the sea horses taken by the men, striving before each 

 other to get to the boat, biting and gnashing with their teeth, 

 and roaring terribly. They never give over so long as one 

 of them is alive, and if you are forced to fl}'' because of their 

 unspeakable number, they will follow the boat till you lose 

 them out of sight, for they cannot follow far, their great 

 number hindring one another. This we found by Weihegat 

 by Spitzbergen, where they got together in great numbers 

 and made our boat take in water, so that we were forced to 



