somewhat incongruous amongst the rocks and snow. Birds soon became comparatively plenty; graceful grey tern fluttered about over cracks in the floes, and dipped into the pools for the little shrimps that came to the surface; flocks of knots, exceedingly wild and quick of wing, were commonly seen wading about in marshy places. A pair of snowy owls reared a brood on the cliffs of the north ravine. The parents supplied an excellent dish, and the young ones were made pets of. One of them, called “Mordecai” on account of his Asian profile, became a great favourite in consequence of his quaintly gluttonous habits. A few king-duck and Brent geese chose Grant Land as a safe nursery for their coming broods. Stringent game laws were enacted, in order that they might not be frightened away before they had made up their minds on the subject. We altogether underrated the sagacity of these creatures. Birds accustomed to winter perhaps on our own shores would of course be familiar with man, but we hoped they might take us for Eskimo armed with bows and arrows, and we were not at all prepared for their accurate knowledge of the range of Eley wire cartridge in our Guy and Moncrieff “central fires.” All were not so well informed, however. One day, an officer wandering about the “mud flats” was brought to a standstill by the extreme stickiness of the ground, and was endeavouring to extract his boot from a muddy place, where it had stuck fast, when a pair of geese, impelled by most convenient curiosity, flew round him once or twice, and lit within a hundred yards, then, stretching out their necks straight in front, walked deliberately up till there was less risk of missing than of blowing them to fragments. These birds no doubt come north in search of safety for themselves and their broods during the nursing season, for the moulting of both parents, just before the young are able to fly, leaves them peculiarly defenceless. Later on, when the Expedition was on its way southward, two of our sportsmen encountered a large flock thus deprived of their pinions, and secured no less than seventy birds in fourteen shots.