sums of money and many years of his life. It need hardly be said that the gun was, when first invented, not so perfect as at present; but Sven Foyn has gradually improved it. The kinds of whales hunted in Finmarken belong to the family of ‘fin’-whales, the largest of them all being the ‘blue’-whale. The colour is bluish gray, lighter on the under side, with long white furrows or folds, the use of which to the animal, zoologists have not yet discovered. This whale lives, as far as we know, solely on ‘krill,’ a tiny crustacean, which also serves as food for the cod. It comes inshore in Finmarken towards the end of May, and again goes to sea in the latter half of August, whence it is also called ‘summer’-whale. It is generally this kind of whale which is seen by travellers to the North Cape. The next variety is the common fin-whale, which attains a length of sixty to seventy feet, is more slender in build than the other, black on the back, and light below. It moves very swiftly, and is probably found off the Norwegian coast all the year round. Its food is tiny fish and ‘krill.’ There are, besides these, two other varieties in the same seas, of which the largest is caught. Finally, there is the ‘trold’-whale or ‘humpback,’ forty to fifty feet in length. It is exceedingly lively, and, when hotly pursued, _shrieks_ and lashes the sea to froth with its tail. It is, however, not very common on the Norwegian coast. It is generally believed that the whale, in spite of its enormous size, is timid and easily put to flight; but that this is not always the case, will be seen from some stories I was told of its stupidity or viciousness by the fishermen last summer. Several boats, they stated, have been struck or run down by whales, sometimes resulting in loss of life, in consequence of which they are not loved by these toilers of the deep. On one occasion, in May last, a whale was shot from one of the steamers, which, by taking refuge right under the stern of the vessel, succeeded in breaking the rope, as the captain was afraid of losing his screw, if moving. The whale, feeling free, took a few turns round the vessel, and then ran full tilt at the stern, with such a force, that the keel was bent for several yards, and screw and rudder carried away. Having thus satisfied its revenge, it made leisurely for the ocean. With these preliminary observations, I will proceed to describe a whale-hunt on the shores of the Land of the Midnight Sun, according to my own experiences of this summer.