. Adventures of two youths in the open Polar Sea. and the Gambetta didlikewise. The view beyond the hill was encouraging, as it revealed a wide stripof open water between the land and the pack of heavy ice which spreadaway to the eastward. This water extended as far as they could see, andthe major decided without hesitation that it would be quite safe to vent-ure into it. In front of the hill the ice-pack was not more than a quartei GATHERING BIRDS EGGS. 233 of a mile from land ; the indications were that there was plenty of waterbetween the foreland and the ice, though this could only be made
. Adventures of two youths in the open Polar Sea. and the Gambetta didlikewise. The view beyond the hill was encouraging, as it revealed a wide stripof open water between the land and the pack of heavy ice which spreadaway to the eastward. This water extended as far as they could see, andthe major decided without hesitation that it would be quite safe to vent-ure into it. In front of the hill the ice-pack was not more than a quartei GATHERING BIRDS EGGS. 233 of a mile from land ; the indications were that there was plenty of waterbetween the foreland and the ice, though this could only be made certainby actual soundings. Descending the hill they took a route different from the one by whichthey went up; on their way down, when near the base, they hud the good-fortune to come upon several nests of the eider-duck, of the variety knownas the king, which breeds earlier and farther north than the commoneider. The birds were just beginning their period of nesting; no nestcontained more than one egg, with the exception of two or three which. THE LUMME OF THE NORTH. had two eggs each. The major said the eider-duck usually lays from fiveto seven eggs, and does not begin incubation until about the end of May. They gathered all the eggs they could find, and managed to get nearlythree dozen. They killed eight or ten ducks by knocking them down with 234: THE VOYAGE OF THE VIVIAN. sticks, and on reaching the boat they found that the sailors had securedas many more by the simple process of striking them with the oars whenthey flew or swam near the boat. Several liimme and auks had beentaken in the same way, and when the boat returned to the Vivian it hada good supply of food for the cabin table. George was surprised to find that the egg of the eider-duck is abouttwice as large as a hens egg, and when the harvest of the day had passedthrough the hands of the , he decided that the eggs were as deliciousas they were large. While the party was discussing the novel dinner,Captain J
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