4 AND MAKE PREPARATIONS. 



vided with a square topsail and everything 

 requisite for a summer's campaign against the 

 ferse naturae of the arctic regions; and including 

 casks to stow their blubber in, as I expected 

 to be reimbursed for at least a part of the 

 heavy outlay these preparations entailed, by 

 the proceeds of skins and oil. I also ordered 

 two suitable whale- (or rather walrus-) boats 

 to be constructed in Hammerfest, of a size 

 slightly larger than those commonly used, so 

 as to admit of an amateur sitting comfortably 

 in the stern without his having necessarily to 

 act as one of the boat's crew ; and, finally, I 

 desired my agent to engage two skilful har- 

 pooners, and men enough to man the boats 

 and navigate the " jagt" — English sailors being 

 almost as useless as the boats for this descrip- 

 tion of work. 



On mentioning my projected expedition to a 

 friend, renowned as a sportsman with the rifle 

 and the spear on the plains of India, and 

 telling him of the sport I expected amongst 

 the icebergs of the North, he at once agreed to 

 join me, and entered with heart and purse into 

 the arrangements ; and here let me state that, 

 during ten years I have spent in travelling in 

 different parts of the world, I have never fallen 



