h.

[Illustration: HARES FROM CHUKCH LAND. ]

On our arrival most of the birds had already left these regions, so
inhospitable in winter, or were seen high up in the air in collected
flocks, flying towards the south entrance of Behring's Straits.
Still on the 19th October an endless procession of birds was seen
drawing towards this region, but by the 3rd November it was noted,
as something uncommon, that a gull settled on the refuse heaps in
the neighbourhood of the vessel. It resembled the ivory gull, but
had a black head. Perhaps it was the rare _Larus Sabinii_, of which
a drawing has been given above.[257] All the birds which passed us
came from the north-west, that is, from the north coast of Siberia,
the New Siberian Islands or Wrangel Land. Only the mountain owl, a
species of raven and the ptarmigan wintered in the region, the last
named being occasionally snowed up.

The ptarmigan here is not indeed so plump and good as the
Spitzbergen ptarmigan during winter, but in any case provided us
with an always welcome, if scanty change from the tiresome preserved
meat. When some ptarmigan were shot, they were therefore willingly
saved up by the cook, along with the hares, for festivals. For in
order to break the monotony on board an opportunity was seldom
neglected that offered itself for holding festivities. Away there on
the coast of the Chukch peninsula there were thus celebrated with
great conscientiousness during the winter of 1878-9, not only our
own birthdays but also those of King Oscar, King Christian and King
Humbert, and of the Emperor Alexander. Every day a newspaper was
distributed, for the day indeed, but for a past year. In addition we
numbered among our diversions constant intercourse with the natives,
and frequent visits to the neighbouring villages, driving in
dog-sledges, a sport which would have been very enjoyable if the
dogs of the natives had not been so exceedingly poor and bad, and
finally industrious reading and zealous studies, for which I had
provided the expedition with an extensive library, intended both for
the scientific men and officers, and for the crew, numbering with
the private stock of books nearly a thousand volumes.

All this time of course the purely scientific work was not
neglected. In the first rank among these stood the meteorological
and magnetical observations, which from the 1st November were made
on land every hour. However fast the ice lay around the vessel it
was i