SPITSBERGEN. 
351 
Regarded purely as a sporting venture, this voyage 
of the Seggur was persistently obstructed by adverse 
conditions at every point. The autumns sport was 
prevented, first by the ice in Storfjord, in the south ; 
next by adverse winds, jamming the ice-pack against 
the North coast. This ice-block, about 80° North lat., 
appears tolerably constant, and it is the exception 
rather than the rule, when an open sea is found, and 
vessels are thus enabled to sail round Verlegen Hook, 
and enter Hinlopen Straits. 
Then in the spring, the best weeks had already been 
lost ere it was found possible to cut the Seggur free 
from her icy cradle, and even then, the North route 
proved impracticable; while, on returning southwards, 
the sloop was again caught by ice in Storfjord at the 
very moment when the chances with Walrus, Bear, and 
other Arctic big-game were most favourable. 
The existence of an open sea in mid-win ter in lat. 
79° 55" North, and the presence of birds thereon so 
early as January 2nd appear remarkable circumstances. 
Spitsbergen possesses a fairly extensive flora of its 
own Arctic type, and I annex a list of plants collected 
there by myself in July and August, to wit:— 
Ranunculas sulphureus. 
Papaver nudicaule, L. 
Arabis alpina, L. 
JDraba alpina , L. 
Cochlearia fenestrata, Br. 
Cardamine pratensis, L. 
Cerastium alpinum , L. 
Stellaria Edwardsii, Br. (? sp.) 
Saxifraga oppositifolia, L. 
„ Mr cuius, L. 
„ ccespitosa , L. 
„ cernua , L. 
Saxifraga rivularis , L. 
Dryas octopetala, L. 
Potentilla emarginata (?). 
Leontodon taraxacum , L. (var.) 
Andromeda tetragona, L. 
Polemonium cceruleum , L. 
Pedicularis Mrsuta. 
Polygonum viviparum , L. 
Salix herhacea. 
Eriophorum —(? sp.) 
Equisetum —traces of a small species. 
