ber-gull,--was seen on
the watch for a victim. He is quite dark in plumage, almost black,
and gets a predatory living by attacking and causing other birds to
drop what they have caught up from the sea, seizing which as it
falls, he sails swiftly away to consume his stolen prize. The
movements of this feathered creature through the air when darting
towards its object are almost too rapid to follow with the human eye.
Not infrequently six or eight gulls of the common species club
together and make a combined onslaught upon this daring free-booter,
and then he must look out for himself; for when the gull is
thoroughly aroused and makes up his mind to fight, he distinctly
means business, and will struggle to the last gasp, like the Spanish
game-cock. There is proverbially strength in numbers, and the skua,
after such an organized encounter, is almost always found floating
lifeless upon the surface of the sea.

We were told of an interesting and touching experience relating to
the golden eagle which occurred near Hammerfest, in the vicinity of
which we are now speaking. It seems that a young Norwegian had set a
trap far up in the hills, at a point where he knew that these birds
occasionally made their appearance. He was prevented from visiting
the trap for some two weeks after he had set and placed it; but
finally when he did so, he found that one of these noble creatures
had been caught by the foot, probably in a few hours after the trap
had been left there. His efforts to release himself had been in vain,
and he lay there dead from exhaustion, not of starvation. This was
plain enough, since close beside the dead eagle and quite within his
reach was the half-consumed body of a white grouse, which must have
been brought to him by his mate, who realizing her companion's
position thus did all that was in her power to sustain and help him.
Occasionally domestic animals in small numbers are seen at the
fishing hamlets, though this is very rarely the case above
Hammerfest. Goats, cows, and sheep find but a poor supply of
vegetable sustenance, mostly composed of reindeer moss; but, strange
to say, these animals learn to eat dried fish, and to relish it when
mixed with moss and straw. The cows are small in frame and quite
short in the legs, but they are hardy and prolific, and mostly white.
All domestic animals seem to be dwarfed here by climatic influences.

Long before we reached Hammerfest the passengers' watches seemed to
be