4i 8 Chapter VII. 



life on deck, romping and playing around us from 

 morning to evening and a little of the night as well. I 

 can watch them with pleasure by the hour together, or 

 play with them as with little children have a game at 

 hide and seek with them round the skylight, the while they 

 are beside themselves with glee. It is the largest and 

 strongest of the lot that has just died, a handsome dog ; 

 I called him ' Lova ' (LionV He was such a confiding, 

 gentle animal, and so affectionate. Only yesterday 

 he was jumping and playing about and rubbing himself 

 against me, and to-day he is dead. Our ranks are 

 thinning, and the worst of it is we try in vain to make 

 out what it is that ails them. This one was apparently 

 quite in his normal condition and as cheerful as ever 

 until his breakfast was given him ; then he began to cry 

 and tear round yelping and barking as if distracted, just 

 as the others had done. After this convulsions set in, 

 and the froth poured from his mouth. One of these 

 convulsions no doubt carried him off. Blessing and I 

 held a post mortem upon him in the afternoon, but we 

 could discover no signs of anything unusual. It does 

 not seem to be an infectious ailment. I cannot under- 

 stand it. 



"'Ulenka,' too, the handsomest dog in the whole 

 pack, our consolation and our hope, suddenly became ill 

 the other day. It was the morning of May 24th that 

 we found it paralyzed and quite helpless, lying in its 

 cask on deck. It kept trying to get up but couldn't, and 



