CHAPTER II 



1 901 



A MAN leaving the coasts of Northern Russia, his body well 

 bitten by mosquitoes and his mind full of the hundred-and- 

 one little annoyances inseparable from all travel, may vow 

 he will never venture there again, but in six months all the troubles 

 are forgotten, only the recollection of some of those glorious days 

 spent within the Arctic Circle, which no other region of the world 

 can give, remains ; and when the spring returns he is as restless to 

 be off once more as the birds are to return to their northern homes. 

 So 1 90 1 found me again steaming up the Norwegian coast accom- 

 panied by my son, Hetley Pearson. 



In searching the map for new ground to work, which could be 

 reached without the expense of chartering a large ship like the Laura, 

 Kanin peninsula presented itself as a desirable spot. Rae had told 

 us nothing about the birds he found in this country Avhen he visited 

 it in 1873, so that it remained virgin soil as far as they were con- 

 cerned. Kanin was, therefore, decided upon as the chief aim of our 

 expedition this year. 



Kanin peninsula extends some 130 miles to the north from the 

 Russian mainland, and forms the eastern shore of the White Sea. 

 Trees appear to reach their northern limit of growth in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Nes river, thirty-five miles to the south of Cape Konu- 

 shin, and the scrub growing beyond this part affords little wood large 

 enough to be of service for fuel ; but the sea supplements the scanty 

 supply afforded by the land with stores of driftwood far in excess of 



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