402 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



but not of good quality, this little vein" being probably the best. 

 Kittiwakes were tolerably numerous during the day in places ; 

 a few Glaucous Gulls, most being immature, one of which the 

 harpooner shot with his rifle ; no Guillemots (either species), 

 Puffins, or Little Auks ; one or two Richardson's Skuas ; two or 

 three Terns, besides those on the Skerry previously mentioned. 

 Saw several Purple Sandpipers and shot one, as I could not clearly 

 identify it. Eiders very few and far between, but I saw one party 

 of several dozen ducks flying ; no drakes seen. On a conspicuous 

 headland inside the Fort there is now to be seen a small cross of 

 iron, erected by the Swedish Expedition a few weeks previously, 

 and underneath it the inscription, " Pa Konang Oscar II. 's 

 Foranstalande" — i.e. " by direction of King Oscar II." When in 

 smooth water inside the Fort, in about two fathoms, took a sweep 

 with the dredge, but only captured one small shrimp and a few 

 tiny snails, &o. M. Rabot went this day in the other boat in the 

 opposite direction, up the harbour, and had unsuccessful shots at 

 some very tame Ax*ctic Foxes, and also at a great Seal. He shot 

 a young Mandt's Guillemot, an Eider Duck and three ducklings, 

 an Arctic Tern and a Purple Sandpiper, and slightly wounding 

 another brought it on board alive, where we kept it for about a 

 couple of days, until it disappeared either overboard or down the 

 hold. He and his boat's crew saw a bird which one of the seamen 

 believed to be a Greenland Eider (= King Eider). He obtained 

 some red snow from a mountain which he ascended. In the 

 evening we went off again in a boat, and after a haul of the dredge, 

 which produced two small Lump-suckers, two Echini, a few small 

 shrimps, star-fish and tiny snails, we proceeded up the harbour 

 to the site of the old Russian house. Presently a splash quite 

 close to the boat showed where a Ringed Seal had come up, but 

 discovering the boat so close popped down again at once. Saw 

 several Purple Sandpipers. Ashore were several barrels not 

 headed up containing "beef" of bear, reindeer, and seal-flesh. 

 Pieces of wood, &c., lying on the beach were at this time (about 

 9.30 p.m.) slightly frozen to the ground. We recognised the 

 mountain to which this beach forms the foreground as the one 

 figured, in the ' Voyage of the Vega,' as " a Reindeer pasture, 

 Green Harbour" (vol. i. p. 1:36). With the exception of a big 

 lump or two floating in the offing, there was no ice whatever in 

 the bay at this time — perfectly open water. 



