448 Chapter VII. 



big pot for a card-table. One could almost think it was 

 an August evening at home ; only the toddy is wanting, 

 but the pipes and cigars we have." 



"Sunday, August I2th. We had a shooting com- 

 petition in the forenoon. 



" A o-lorious eveningr I took a stroll over the ice 



o o 



among the lanes and hummocks. It was so wonderfully 

 calm and still. Not a sound to be heard but the drip, 

 drip of water from a block of ice, and the dull sound of 

 a snow-slip from some hummock in the distance. The 

 sun is low down in the north, and overhead is the pale 

 blue dome of heaven, with gold-edged clouds. The 

 profound peace of the Arctic solitudes. My thoughts 

 fly free and far. If one could only give utterance to all 

 that stirs one's soul on such an evening as this ! What 

 an incomprehensible power one's surroundings have 

 over one ! 



"Why is it that at times I complain of the loneliness? 

 With Nature around one, with one's books and studies, 

 one can never be quite alone." 



"Thursday, August i6th. Yesterday evening, as I 

 was lying in my berth reading, and all except the w r atch 

 had turned in, I heard the report of a gun on deck 

 over my head. Thinking- it was a bear, I hurriedly 

 put on my sea boots and sprang on deck. There I 

 saw Johansen bare-headed, rifle in hand. 'Was it you 

 that fired the shot ? ' ' Yes. I shot at the big hummock 

 yonder--I thought something was stirrino- there, and 



