406 MODERN VIKINGS IN THE ARCTIC SEAS 



off at top speed to the ship, where he was promptly put into his bunk 

 and restoratives administered to him. Soon the efforts were suc- 

 cessful, and he sank into a sleep from which he awakened, many 

 hours after, little the worse for his adventure. He escaped without 

 even a touch of frost-bite. 



A few days after this episode the temperature fell rapidly, 

 until the thermometer registered as low as 58 degrees Fahren- 

 heit. Explorer Peary was at the time some fifteen miles to the 

 north of the "Fram," and the temperature in his locality went down 

 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit, a cold so intense that, hardened as he 

 was to the rigors of Arctic weather, he had seven toes so severely 

 frost-bitten that they had to be amputated. 



Yet the way in which mankind can adapt themselves to all 

 varieties of climate, by use and custom, was shown by a visit they 

 had from one of Peary's Eskimos. He reached the "Fram" on a 

 day when the temperature was at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Invited 

 on board, he said he must first change his traveling clothes, and, in 

 the open air, he stripped to the waist to remove his heavy furs and 

 put on a lighter suit. He was apparently as unaffected by the 

 intense cold on his naked flesh as one of the Norwegians would have 

 been had the thermometer stood at 40 degrees above instead of 40 

 degrees below zero. 



During the sledge journeys numerous indications were found 

 of musk oxen being in the neighborhood of the sheltered valleys in 

 the interior of the islands. As a supply of fresh beef was always 

 desirable, considerable attention was paid to these animals, and, 

 from time to time, the larder was kept well supplied with their meat. 

 On these hunting expeditions some interesting observations were 

 made on the habits of the oxen. One of the most interesting was 

 as to the manner in which they met attack. When they were dis- 

 turbed in feeding, the herd would retreat slowly and in order; but 

 if they saw they were being pursued, they moved towards any 

 vantage ground, such as a rise or hill summit, there to form them- 



