48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



which was to have met the ' Active ' at Southampton Island,* 

 foundered in the Atlantic ; but happily the crew were rescued. 

 The ' Forget-me-Not,' a stout little craft of 86 tons, fitted out for 

 a private trading expedition to Frobisher Bay, has, sad to say, 

 never been heard of since she left Southampton, where she went 

 to take in her bonded stores. The ' Queen Bess,' after many 

 disappointments and delays, and in spite of gales and heavy seas, 

 reached her destination in safety, and went into winter quarters 

 in Cumberland Gulf in charge of two of her crew, Capt. Young 

 and the other members of the expedition returning to Dundee 

 on board the ' Active.' These small vessels are useful at the 

 stations, to enable the men to extend their cruises much farther 

 than they could do in ordinary whale-boats, as well as to carry 

 cargo from place to place. . 



I have no exact information as to the catch of Seals by the 

 Norwegian vessels in the Greenland Seas, but Mr. Kinnes tells 

 me that it was very small, and that the Bottle-nose fishery was 

 considerably less than in the previous season. 



The ' Laura,' which left Tromso in July last for East Green- 

 land, principally to catch Musk Oxen, reports that in this 

 respect her voyage was a failure Happily for the preservation 

 of these interesting animals, the ice seems to be again forming 

 a barrier off the shore ; but, in addition to tbe disgraceful 

 destruction of these animals in recent years by the vessels which 

 have been able to land there, Dr. Nathrost states! that already 

 a modification of the fauna seems to have resulted by the arrival 

 upon the scene of the Arctic Wolf, the migration of which he 

 traces round the north and east of Greenland to Scoresby's 

 Sound, where he is of opinion it made its appearance subsequent 

 to 1892. The effect of this arrival is most apparent in the 

 diminution in the numbers of the Keindeer, and, in a less degree, 

 of the Musk Ox, which also Dr. Nathrost regards as a compara- 

 tively recent arrival on the east coast. 



I have, as on former occasions, to express my thanks to Mr. 

 Robert Kinnes, of Dundee, and to Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. 

 John's, Newfoundland, for their kind assistance. 



* It is quite possible that the mineral wealth of that island may prove a 

 greater source of profit than even the fishery. 



f ' La Geographie,' quoted in Geogr. Journ. 1901, p. 310. 



