242 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 
glens where the reindeer were so numerous that they 
might be supposed to be the herds of a wealthy Lap¬ 
lander. Ten thousand skins were shipped from that 
port some years ago. They are slaughtered indiscri¬ 
minately by the natives, these improvident people, 
in nine cases out of ten, leaving the hides and flesh, 
and only taking the tongues. They are bad enough 
shots, and the Danish traders supply them with 
powder at less than prime cost—viz., 36 skillings, or 
9 d., per lb., with a view to increase the produce of 
the hunt; but this ammunition is wasted in a most 
reckless manner. 
On the way to and from these hunts up the fjords, 
the Danes are filled with the savage desire to kill 
every living thing. Ducks are shot and left lying; or, 
if they are very hungry, they will tear off the “ tit¬ 
bits.” A ptarmigan will be shot sitting on its eggs, 
and the ball cut out of its body, to be used again in 
this murderous sport. There is no necessity for it; 
for at this time they are abundantly suj:>plied with 
food, even to excess. It is, however, the season for 
sport and fun, looked forward to by the natives of 
Greenland, much in the same light as we do to our 
grouse-shooting or deer-stalking, and is about as pro¬ 
fitable to all parties concerned. In order to pursue 
this sport, they leave the more lucrative seal-fishery. 
