298 Chapter VI. 



again, nothing to cover over the open rifts, nothing to 

 break the violence of the collisions, nothing to round 

 away the sharp corners of the broken floes nothing, 

 nothing but bare, rugged clrift-ice. 



"Saturday, December i6th. In the afternoon Peter 

 came quietly into the saloon, and said that he heard all 

 sorts of noises on the ice. There was a sound to the 

 north exactly like that of ice packing against land, and 

 then suddenly there was such a roar through the air that 

 the dogs started up and barked. Poor Peter ! They 

 laugh at him when he comes down to give an account 

 of his many observations ; but there is not one among 

 us as sharp as he is. 



" Wednesday, December 2Oth. As I was sitting at 

 breakfast, Peter came roaring that he believed he had 

 seen a bear on the ice. 'And that "Pan" set off the 

 moment he was loosed.' I rushed on to the ice with 

 my gun. Several men were to be seen in the moonlight, 

 but no bear. It was long- before Pan came back ; he 

 had followed him far to the north-west. 



'Sverclrupand 'Smith Lars' in partnership have made 

 a great bear-trap, which was put out on the ice to-day. 

 As I was afraid of more dogs than bears being caught in 

 it, it was hung from a gallows, too high for the dogs to 

 jump up to the piece of blubber which hangs as bait 

 right in the mouth of the trap. All the dogs spend the 

 evening now sitting on the rail barking at this new man 

 they see out there on the ice in the moonlight. 



