280 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. CHAP. xxi. 



the form of a great white bird, which seemed to me to alight 

 upon a distant lake. Taking it to be a Bewick's swan, I put 

 a slug-cartridge into my gun and walked rapidly on in its 

 direction. Before I got within shot of it the bird rose, and 

 I saw a snowy owl drop behind the sandhills. I carefully 

 stalked it, looked around, and after a time descried a white 

 spot resting on the north twin cape, which, with the aid of 

 my telescope, I discovered to be the owl. He, too, must have 

 been watching me; perhaps he took my sealskin cap for 

 some new species of lemming, for presently he rose and flew 

 across the water directly towards me. By the time he had 

 reached the other twin cape he evidently discovered his 

 mistake, and alighted on the beach about sixty yards in 

 front of me. I rose and walked towards him ; he also rose, 

 but before he had flown ten yards my shot reached him, 

 broke one of his wings and dropped him into the sea. As 

 he lay struggling in the water a score of glaucous and herring 

 gulls came flying towards him, and sailed round and round 

 him, making quite a small uproar with their cries. I was 

 too anxious, however, to secure my first snowy owl to pay 

 any heed to them, especially as my gun's extractor had got 

 out of order ; I therefore plunged into the water, and, as it 

 was shallow, I soon landed my prize. 



My gun's cartridge extractor was a complicated new- 

 fangled patent invention, and already that day it had caused 

 me to lose a pair of Buffon's skuas. I had shot a young 

 dunlin, on the muddy margin of the inland sea, breaking 

 with the same barrel the wing of an old dunlin ; with the 

 second barrel I had killed a little stint. The wounded bird 



