SPORT IN NOVA ZEMLA. 87 



regions where walrus, seals, and bears abound, he 

 must, of course, be prepared for any emergency in 

 the way of being beset 01 crushed by the ice, and 

 having to winter. He will therefore at once com- 

 mence laying in a stock of looms (Briinnich's guille- 

 mot), which are excellent eating, very abundant in 

 summer, and afford, at any rate, as good sport as 

 pigeon-shooting. They build, or rather lay their eggs, 

 on ledges along the steep face of any cliff which they 

 may select for their loomery, where they congregate 

 in incredible numbers and hatch their young in com- 

 pany. "\Vhen the young birds are old enough, the 

 parents carry them down to the water if report is 

 to be believed and teach them to swim ; and when 

 they can do that, they are taught to fly, and then the 

 whole colony migrates south. As we had to prepare 

 for a possible winter in Franz -Josef Land, loom- 

 shooting was commenced even before we had sighted 

 Xova Zernla, and when we got to Karmakula we 

 went at it with a will Convenient slabs of floating 

 bay-ice were being carried slowly along the base of 

 the cliff which we decided to attack, and on one of 

 these we took our stand, shooting the birds as they 

 flew over our heads, our boat picking them up as 

 they fell into the water. One of my birds fell close 

 to the edge of the piece of ice on which we -\vere 

 standing, and, jumping forward to secure it before it 

 could wriggle itself under the ice, I cracked off a great 

 lump and floundered into the just freezing water. I 



