22 THE ZOOLOGISY. 
pursuit of the bird by myself; it was snowing at the time, and the 
spaces between the hummocks being filled up with drift, hid the 
cracks and were very treacherous. When I got within about 
seventy yards of the bird the snow and slush gave way beneath 
me, and I sunk through the snow above my middle into water 
over my knees, without feeling bottom, but by good luck I 
managed to scramble out on to a firm piece of ice. After firing a 
parting salute at the owl, which made it flap off lazily to the 
southward, I ran back to the ship at my best pace, but before I 
reached it that portion of my clothing which had been immersed 
was frozen as hard as any board. With my present experience 
I should think twice before chasing a bird over unsolidified pack 
in the winter, and certainly would not dream of doing so again 
without a companion and a piece of rope. 
The finding a species of Charr, (Salmo arcturus, Giinther), 
in a small lake in lat. 82° 84’ N., was of importance, as it 
convinced us that these pieces of fresh water cannot freeze to 
the bottom during winter. Dr. Giinther states that this 
salmonoid comes nearest to the Charr of Killin, Inverness- 
shire, but cannot be considered identical. In the stomach of 
one I examined, captured in October, I found a perfect and 
beautiful Hydrachna, and the remains of some dipterous 
insects. It is an interesting and unsolved problem with me, 
how these fresh-water fish got to the lakes they now occupy. 
The pieces of fresh water in which we found them are at no great 
altitude above the present sea-level, and in every instance 
communicate with the sea, whilst the area in which they are 
situated is undoubtedly one of rapid upheaval. These lakes are 
fed by the melting of the surrounding snow, and have no 
communication with lakes at a higher altitude, which, if ever 
they existed, are now hidden by the perpetual snow. Still I think 
it more likely that these Charr are the descendants of an ancient 
race that retreated to the shore-line as the land rose, and their old 
habitats became buried in snow, than immigrants from the sea in 
modern times; for all the species of Charr with which we are 
acquainted are essentially fresh-water fish. In the Feroe Islands, 
which apparently have been separated from the continent of 
Europe since Miocene times, a species of Charr is found; and 
it would be very desirable to compare Froese specimens with 
those from Grinnell Land. 
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