sufficiently high to admit of the existence of the wood-boring teredos, such as are found in timber used in ships, marine structures, and driftwood floating on or near the surface. Caught at last in some ocean current, the wood is drifted westwards, and at length finds a resting-place on this desolate coast. These sea-worms cannot live in the Arctic seas, and the driftwood, perforated in every direction with their little tunnels, has long since been rendered tenantless.

As we came near our landing-place, at four o'clock in the Arctic morning, we found that the men during our absence had collected a quantity of dry wood, and, setting fire to it, were busily engaged in spreading a comfortable repast for us after our wanderings; here we found the comfortable odour of coffee diffusing itself over the other good things laid out for our entertainment. It was with no small satisfaction we once more took our places on board our boats, since landing at Jan Mayen is not considered at all times safe. Frequently a sudden gale springs up unexpectedly, and people coming for a few hours are often detained a week on the shore, waiting for a chance of escape, and we were well aware of this fact, as the stores provided for the trip we had just made, were intended for an emergency of the kind.

The wind had not shifted during our short stay,

EXTINCT CRATERS.

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and there was therefore no surf to hinder our embarking. We made a quick passage to the ship, and having "an imposition of sleep upon us," we turned in for five hours until breakfast time.

Going on deck again, we found the wind still off the land, bringing down with it blasts of air that had become chilled by passing over the frozen mountainsides to windward of us. High above us rose the icy peak of Beerenberg, as stately a mountain as ever eye gazed upon; its pointed crest, robed with snow, towered above the clouds that cling around it in wreaths of vapour. The water under the steep shore was comparatively calm; we therefore took a boat's crew and landed again, leaving two of the men to look after our boat in our absence.

The soil formed by the washing away of the mountains was heaped up in the neighbourhood of the sea into rich plains, and its richness surprised us. There are two craters marked upon the chart, which at no distant period gave out flames and lava. With difficulty we made our way over the black soil and rugged ridges which opposed themselves to our progress, and, ascending an eminence, we looked towards the sea on the opposite coast, and the craters coming within our range, we at once turned our steps in their direction. The place has greatly changed since Scoresby described it.

H

For instance, the remarkable rock known by the name

of Egg Island, which in his time might have formed a tolerable shelter for a vessel of good size, is now joined to the mountainous shore, and presents an outer surface of about twenty-five feet above the level of high water mark.

We ascended one of the lofty ridges of Beerenberg, whose summit at that moment was perfectly free from clouds, and the prospect was of surpassing grandeur. The sun lit up all its projecting crags, and whenever its direct rays fell upon the snow and ice, the mountain glistened with iridescent colours. A torrent falling from hidden recesses near its summit came down in long leaps, or tumbled amongst the projecting crags, and as it came it froze into rigid icicles; the sunbeams falling on these cascades caused them to glitter and sparkle again. We had never contemplated anything so fairy-like, and at the same time so weirdlooking. We had a long ten-hour walk, and were rewarded by the discovery of a hitherto unnoticed crater, whose position we carefully noted. The place was blocked with scoria, which was evidently of recent formation.

Returning to the boat, we found our men in a state of great excitement; they had returned from the chase of a little fox, which had occupied a good part of their

time during our absence. At first they watched the cunning little scoundrel stealing down the cliff, evidently in pursuit of game; taking advantage of every little inequality in the surface which could serve as an ambush, it crept down towards the beach, where some sea-birds were resting. The men watched his every move with eager curiosity, and at last they saw the subtle rascal select his victim-a solitary bird stood preening its feathers, arranging its toilet preparatory to a little sleep, all unconscious of the danger impending; having adjusted its plumage to its satisfaction, the bird quietly settled down to rest, and dozed off quietly to sleep. But a short interval now separated the wily fox from its prey, and running quickly from its place of concealment, it bounded towards the bird, and secured, not the coveted morsel, but a single feather from its tail. Without delay, the sea-bird soared aloft into the air, leaving the baffled fox in a state of evident perplexity. Then began their long-delayed chase of the fox, the wild bird screaming as if in satisfaction, as shot after shot told how eager the pursuit was, how difficult the capture.

The cartridge boxes left with the men for their protection were nearly emptied of their contents early in the day, as the wild duck knew to their cost. And it is to this cause they attributed their failure in the

attempt to capture the first Arctic white fox met with on our journey.

We are unwilling to lose the opportunity of devoting ourselves altogether to a closer survey of the island, as the wind to the eastward makes it a difficult matter to approach the land on that side; to the southward the water is calm, and a black sandy beach invites us, but the sandy beach is "steep to," and is bounded with rough, weather-beaten rocks on either hand; it is not a place for anchorage; we sound and verify our opinion, and beat up without further delay. Broken water extends a long way out from the land, but we see no ice in the offing. As we sailed along with a fair wind we suddenly fell in with the true commencement of the west ice.

Extending far beyond the range of vision, and as we scud along, the fog as it lifts reveals vast plains beyond, still encumbered with these quaint-looking masses of floating, toiling ice. Here is a plain of some twenty square yards burthened with little mounds of ice covered with folds of frozen snow; here is a patch of a hundred square yards more heavily weighted with little hummocks, as the lumps of ice scattered over its surface are called by the Arctic voyagers. These are treacherous places to venture upon, as the action of the air and the wasting influence of the salt