Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/78

48 which was to have met the 'Active' at Southampton Island, foundered in the Atlantic; but happily the crew were rescued. The 'Forget-me-Not,' a stout little craft of 86 tons, fitted out for a private trading expedition to Frobisher Bay, has, sad to say, never been heard of since she left Southampton, where she went to take in her bonded stores. The 'Queen Bess,' after many disappointments and delays, and in spite of gales and heavy seas, reached her destination in safety, and went into winter quarters in Cumberland Gulf in charge of two of her crew, Capt. Young and the other members of the expedition returning to Dundee on board the 'Active.' These small vessels are useful at the stations, to enable the men to extend their cruises much farther than they could do in ordinary whale-boats, as well as to carry cargo from place to place.

I have no exact information as to the catch of Seals by the Norwegian vessels in the Greenland Seas, but Mr. Kinnes tells me that it was very small, and that the Bottle-nose fishery was considerably less than in the previous season.

The 'Laura,' which left Tromsö in July last for East Greenland, principally to catch Musk Oxen, reports that in this respect her voyage was a failure. Happily for the preservation of these interesting animals, the ice seems to be again forming a barrier off the shore; but, in addition to the disgraceful destruction of these animals in recent years by the vessels which have been able to land there, Dr. Nathrost states that already a modification of the fauna seems to have resulted by the arrival upon the scene of the Arctic Wolf, the migration of which he traces round the north and east of Greenland to Scoresby's Sound, where he is of opinion it made its appearance subsequent to 1892. The effect of this arrival is most apparent in the diminution in the numbers of the Reindeer, and, in a less degree, of the Musk Ox, which also Dr. Nathrost regards as a comparatively recent arrival on the east coast.

I have, as on former occasions, to express my thanks to Mr. Robert Kinnes, of Dundee, and to Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. John's, Newfoundland, for their kind assistance.