344 
WILD NORWAY. 
to-day; another (a big old male), killed on the 7th, 
measured seven feet. 
Sept. 13 th. —Shot four reindeer—two big bucks out 
of velvet. 
Sept. 14 tli. —Wiide Bay. Shot five deer and sixteen 
ryper, the latter as large or larger than Norsk dal-ryper. 
The sixteen weighed 24^ lbs., though many were birds 
of the year. Shot seventeen more the next day. They 
were absurdly tame. 
Sept . 18 ^/l —Dane’s Gat. Thirty Pink-footed Geese 
seen. Temperature during September—Max. 36*5°, 
min. 15'13°, mean 21*37°. Snow fell on twelve days; 
all day on six, chiefly on 21st. Pain, only a few hours 
on 17 th. 
Oct. bth. —Amsterdam Island. Three “ ryper ” 
weighed exactly 1 kilo (=2*2 lbs.) each.* They were 
very fat, with dark down beneath their snowy plumage. 
Snowy Owl beating about Dane’s Gat, and Snow- 
Buntings seen in flocks, very wild. Purple Sandpiper 
still here, and Long-tailed Duck shot. 
Oct. 11th. —The seals are now so fat they do not sink 
when shot. A bearded seal (Ph. barbata), female, shot 
to-day, was crammed with things like crayfish, swallowed 
whole, three to four inches long. The seal measured 
nine feet, and contained a young one three feet long. 
Oct. 13 th. —Eiders, Glaucous Gulls, young Kitti- 
wakes, and Tysties, generally in flocks ; also a few Little 
Auks. 
Oct. 14 th. —Snowy Owl seen, and fox caught with new 
white winter-coat perfect. Faint aurora commencing. 
* Note that this weight, 2 lbs. ozs., far exceeds that of any 
“ ptarmigan,” or even willow-, or red grouse. See p. 186, supra. 
