MOFFEN ISLAND. 
199 
pied; and as we walked along the shore a long line of 
ducks flew out one after another. The surface of the 
water also was perfectly white with drakes, who wel¬ 
comed their brown wives with loud and clamorous coo¬ 
ing. When we arrived at the farmhouse the mistress 
gave us a cordial welcome. The house itself was a 
great marvel. The earthen walls that surrounded it 
and the window embrasures were occupied with ducks. 
On the ground, the house was fringed with ducks. On 
the turf slopes of the roof we could see ducks, and a 
duck sat in the scraper.” The eggs of this bird differ 
somewhat in size, the rounder is supposed to contain the 
germ of the future duck, the longer contains the drake, 
having a smoother, larger, and a thicker shell. These 
ducks are not now so numerous where they are every 
year disturbed for the sake of their down, for which, in 
the breeding time in Norway and Iceland, they are so 
carefully protected. 
We have a long pull back to the schooner. She 
has come nearer into the land, and the fog, as it 
lifts and falls, shows her enveloped in a hazy mist. 
From her deck, as the air grows clearer, we enjoy the 
glorious scenery of Spitzbergen. The coast is resplen¬ 
dent with glaciers here and there along the water's 
edge ; the vitreous heaps glisten in the sun's rays, 
reflecting all the colours of the prism. Above them a 
