THE " ANNA LOUISA." 13 



board, and in company with liim we went to 

 inspect the " jagt," boats, &c. 



I had hitherto been undecided whether to 

 leave the " Ginevra " at Hammerfest, or to take 

 her also over to Spitzbergen, but the sight 

 and smell of the cabin of the "Anna Louisa" 

 at once decided me to stick to the schooner as 

 long as possible. 



The " Anna Louisajgir was an extremely 

 ugly, clumsy little tub of a sloop, of about 30 

 tons British measurement, and was rigged 

 with a particularly ill-fitting mainsail, a stay- 

 sail, a jib, and a small square topsail. She was 

 high at the bow and the stern, and round in the 

 bottom, and altogether looked as if the in- 

 tention of her builder had been that she 

 should make as much leeway as possible, and 

 upset at the first opportunity. The latter fate 

 I afterwards learned had very nearly overtaken 

 her the summer before, and her subsequent 

 performances in making leeway did not at all 

 belie her appearance. She had been engaged 

 in a Spitzbergen trip the previous summer, 

 and looked and smelt as if she had not been 

 cleaned since, as the stench of the putrid 

 walrus oil, in and all over her, was perfectly 

 sickening. 



