NOTES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL. 107 
tap killing them at once. Buffon’s Skua hovers over its prey 
very much like the Kestrel, F’. tinnunculus, with rapidly beating 
wings and expanded tail. 
On July 5th Mr. Parr fell in with three Musk-oxen about 
two miles and a half from the ship; he managed to secure all 
three of them—a young bull and two cows. These animals 
were thin and in poor condition. On the morning of the 6th 
a fair-sized bull was seen on the shore, not far from the ship. 
Several of us ran out to shoot it, but Dr. Moss was the fortunate 
one who secured it. This animal having been killed in close 
proximity to the ship, Captain Nares gave me permission to take 
the hide and skeleton, provided that I saved the meat for the use 
of the ship’s company.* The weight of the meat that I sent on 
board from the carcase amounted to 211 1bs.; the heart, liver, 
and kidneys to 12 lbs. more. 
Night after night I passed out on the hills trying to find the 
nest of the Knot. Not a day passed without my seeing them 
feeding in small flocks; but they were very wild, rising with 
shrill cries when one approached within a quarter of a mile of 
the mud-flats on which they were feeding. It is very extra- 
ordinary, considering the hundreds of miles traversed by myself 
and my companions,—all of us on the look-out for this bird’s eggs, 
and several of us experienced bird’s-nesters,—that we found no 
trace of its breeding until the young in down were discovered. 
I found two or three species of Collembola very common 
in the neighbourhood of Floeberg Beach; one especially, pro- 
bably Podura hyperborea, was to be seen in myriads on the 
surface of the snow, and also floating on the surface of the 
little rills that were fed by the dribbling from the snow. I 
made several attempts to dredge through cracks in the outside 
pack, but all proved nearly or quite unsuccessful. There was 
not sufficient length of fissure in any place I could reach to give 
the dredge a fair sweep, or to allow the lip to scrape the bottom. 
We had, therefore, to content ourselves with the specimens 
captured in baited traps let down the fire-hole. 
On the 11th July, the water in the ravines and torrent-courses 
having considerably decreased, I again left the ship in company 
with my indefatigable messmate, Mr. Parr. Our idea was to 
proceed to the tent at Dumbell Bay, make use of the residue of 
* This animal is now in the British Museum. 
