Skptember 3, 1896] 



NA TURE 



419 



second siderostat. The intention is to make three ex- 

 posiiK s with this instrument. 



The whole apparatus is housed in a tent made by 

 the carpenter out of ship's material, spare spars and a 

 sail. The peculiar appearance of the hut has resulted in 

 its bting named by the sailors Porcupine Cottage. The 

 hut for the 6-inch, which adjoins it, is called the 

 Town Hall. 



With regard to the other branches of work, in some of 

 which the numbers assisting are large, the senior 

 volunteer in each has been made responsible for the pre- 

 paration and subsequent signing of forms, and representa- 

 tive in general of the party. The Chaplain, the Rev. E. 

 J. \'aughan, whose interest has lieen unflagging through- 

 out, has been good enough to act as intermediary between 

 these representatives and myself, so that the closest touch 

 has been kept. It was thought desirable that in addition 

 to acting on the general instructions, each party should 

 know the special points on which information is desired. 

 A request for detailed answers to certain questions has 

 been therefore placed in 



the hands of the head 



of each section. , 



I have said that this 

 morning was lovely ; 

 yesterday — the 7th — 

 was not l)y any means a 

 pleasant and bright day, 

 but the rain managed to 

 keep away and allow 

 work to be carried on 

 in the camp, in which 

 the preparation and the 

 rehearsals have been 

 vigorously continued. 

 The first boat leaves the 

 ship at about five each 

 morning, so as to secure 

 drill at eclipse time, and 

 from this time onwards 

 there is a continual pas- 

 sage of boats from ship 

 to camp and back again, 

 as the various observers 

 are released from their 

 work, which goes on 

 incessantly, not only on 

 board among the guns 

 and masts, but in the 

 fjord, in the shape of 

 firing and boat parties, 

 the firing being strongly 



objected to by the inhabitants of the " loomery," which 

 is hard by. 



The birds, which in our stay we have become acquainted 

 with, are of several kinds. Foremost among these is 

 the white seagull, which has its home on the crags and 

 ledges of the clifi" to the west of the Vohjicc These birds 

 literally swarm here, but apparently seem to be divided 

 into distinct societies ; indeed, on the cliff there are 

 three or four separate " loomeries, " and the birds in each 

 of them always keep together and seldom, if ever, inter- 

 mix with those in others. .\t apparently fixed times 

 they fly down from their ledges and form a teeming, 

 hurrying, clamorous throng, eddying in front of the 

 face of the cliff. The young birds at the time are just 

 beginning to fly, so the noise is perhaps greater than 

 usual. After we had been here a few days they all 

 became very tame, and swam around the ship. On Star- 

 vation Island several young ones were found ; these could 

 be easily located by paying attention to the utterances of 

 the parent birds flying overhead, which became louder 

 and louder the nearer the right spot was approached. 



The young birds were found always in small pools 



NO. 1 40 1, VOL. 54] 



between the rocks, generally lying under small bushes of 

 grass overhanging them. The bluejackets, when ashore, 

 caught many in this way, and it was amusing to see these 

 birds walking about the forecastle as if owners of all they 

 surveyed. .An amusing incident occured on the evening 

 the I'o/aot' arrived from Vadsii. Lieut. Martin and Sub- 

 Lieut. Beal, on going on board the sailing cutter, found a 

 dead gull in the bottom of the boat ; on further examina- 

 tion, no less than 20 to 25 more were found stowed away 

 in the stern. On making inquiries of the bluejackets as 

 to their presence, they replied that they had collected 

 them for supper m case the ship did not arrive that night, 

 as provisions were rather short. The ship, however, did 

 arrive, so that fried gull was not indulged in. 



The shag, or green cormorant, abounds also in great 

 numbers. These birds are far from beautiful, and were 

 disliked by everybody. Many of them were too fat 

 to fly properly, and when disturbed they managed to 

 make themselves scarce by flopping over the surface 

 of the water. The reverse was the case with the prettily 



Fig. 6.— The Siderostat and the 9-inch Hut. 



marked oyster-catchers ; these were always watched 

 with interest, and there were five which greeted the 

 party daily as it landed on Kio Island. These birds 

 are noted for being very self-possessed, cautious, and 

 deliberate ; and any event out of the ordinary arouses 

 their curiosity, and incites them to make closer examina- 

 tion. Of the other birds seen, some were quick-moving 

 sea-swallows, and a few ducks skimming occasionally 

 along the fjord. 



On our island, Kio, there are several Lapps who con- 

 tinually watch our movements. In the small bay on the 

 western shore there is one small hut in which about 

 five, including one woman, live ; while generally some of 

 the others encamp in small curiously-looking huts near by; 

 or either sleep in their boats or on skins ashore. In 

 the bay to our south-east, on the other side of the fjord, 

 there is quite a large Lapp encampment, and it is. 

 from this that most of our visitors come. The accom- 

 panying group shows many of these. This photograph 

 was taken instantaneously, and without any preparation 

 as regards grouping, and shows them as they sat watch- 

 ing us erecting the huts and instruments. At this time 



