A DANGEROUS DESCENT.

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a footing he sees below. Arrived there, we call out, sailor-like, "Stand from under," and we let him go. He lands safely, luckily for us. Now Roberts disappears over the ledge, then the rifles and our companion's lunch. Roberts now mounts on Hayward's shoulders, and we slip down first to one, then to the other man. Again we stand together in as difficult a position as before. After that comes the stream, and beyond lies the rugged ascent of the ravine. Again Hayward goes first,

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sweep fashion," he calls it. Being a slender, active man he finds little difficulty apparently. With assistance we follow, and we eventually cross the stream, with no other hurt than a few

bruises. Once over we find the trial of the ascent less than we expected, and we hasten forward with all

speed, fearing to lose our party. Several shots had already been fired to inform us of their whereabouts, but these we did not hear; and when at length we came up with the others, they had given up the hope of meeting us and were returning to the schooner. We had decided to walk towards the deer killed during the previous night, concluding that a visit would be paid to that point, and we are so far successful. The luncheon we carried proved most acceptable. Coasting along the bay, we make up a party to stalk other deer we have seen to-day, and our hunt has proved more successful than we had looked for. We are so rich now we can share with a neighbour from our larder. We go again in search of three large stags not accounted for, and this time we take the M. H. express rifle. Its heavy weight, with all our practice, tells against our muscular structure, and while we write, we feel the effects of carrying this useful gun, in certain pains about the hollow of our back; yet we killed all three deer before returning on board. The details of the sport, various and full of interest as they ever will be to ourselves, might cause weariness to the reader; suffice it to say, then, that the second and third stags were shot in full view of the crew, who saw each scene in the act, and. as the last stag rolled over dead from the shot, the

A SIGNAL NOT UNDERSTOOD.

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men raised a hearty cheer. There is a lake near Albert Dirk's Bay marked "Salmon" in the chart, and though we have not much faith in the chart itself, we are anxious, for sake of change, to combine fish with our venison and tender gosling dishes; we make sail in that direction. The ice steadily opposes itself to our wishes

-that bugbear of all our voyage is driving down upon this side of the bay. A Norwegian sloop is in company with us, and her skipper seems rather anxious once or twice he has hailed in broken English, and at last he runs up a flag and bears away. We beat backwards and forwards. After half an hour's anxious tacking about to and fro, like some newly caught animal in a cage, we manage to escape through some lucky chance, just as the ice had almost caught us, and we cross to the opposite side of the bay where our Norwegian has already cast anchor under the lee of the land. Her captain offered to help us with a gift of some hard wood-he called it " Hekey wood" to repair our broken stem; but we had no experienced hands on board to attempt the work, and declined. He explained the custom of hoisting a flag to signal that the ice was open ahead, in order to warn his less lucky companion of the chance,-a signal we did not comprehend at the time.

We made yet another hunting party for the pursuit

of the deer, and shot a stag with the velvet still on his horns. At this early season the horns look handsomer than they are later on, when the dry antlers are divested of this covering. As we go in pursuit of our game, we see another herd too far away from us, and yet if seen by our companions within easy reach of them by stalking. We make a sign which is fortunately understood, and our companion sends on his man, who creeps behind some rocks and so gets well on to his mark. The frightened stag runs off, and is rolled over by that clever marksman. A second deer refused to leave his dead companion; while he stood undecided what to do, he gave the sailor the opportunity of firing two shots at him, before a well-directed bullet rolled him over.

Then we had a laborious four hours after some deer before we could stalk them near enough for a shot, but succeeded in the end in bagging two deer with a right and left shot. To show the attachment of these beasts to their fellows, we may mention that during the previous year Mr. Leigh Smith, sailing in Hinlopen Straits, shot a large stag, but missed or could not get near its companion; as they were a long way from the ship, and the ground was very swampy to walk over, he had the head and horns removed, and brought along with him to his schooner. They saw the survivor go to the

headless remains, and then follow the party to the ship, sniffing at the air laden with the odour of the departed one. As it lingered on the shore, a man quietly landed from the boat and shot it.

Here was another instance out of many we witnessed on this journey of the affection of these poor, solitary creatures, leading them even to inevitable death.

There is some dispute respecting the identity of the American and European reindeer, as to whether they are the same animal or only varieties. That there is some distinction we are satisfied, having compared the massive horns we brought home with others we have seen from Greenland and America.

It may be that the fly, which is not only a torment to the European reindeer, but is an actual injury to the skin its grub has taken up its abode in, is absent from these higher latitudes, and the comparative freedom from this scourge may be in some remote way the cause of its finer and better development.

Dr. Hayes fed his party luxuriously on reindeer all the winter at Port Foulke, in Smith's Sound, not many miles from where Kane's party almost starved a few years before. Behind Holsteenberg are valleys full of reindeer; and Mr. Brown heard tales of people climbing the hills in that vicinity and looking down into

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