494 Chapter VIII. 



consumed by brooding, it is all so little, so unutterably 



little ' Whoso sees Jehovah dies.' 



" Sunday, November 4th. At noon I had gone out 

 on a snow-shoe expedition, and had taken some of the 

 dogs with me. Presently I noticed that those that had 

 been left behind at the ship began to bark. Those with 

 me pricked up their ears, and several of them started off 

 back, with ' Ulenka ' at their head. Most of them soon 

 stopped, listening and looking behind them to see if I 

 were following-. I wondered for a little while whether it 



O 



could be a bear, and then continued on my way ; but at 

 length I could stand it no longer, and set off homewards, 

 with the dogs dashing' wildly on in front. On approach- 

 ing the ship I saw some of the men setting off with 

 guns ; they were Sverdrup, Johansen, Mogstad, and 

 Henriksen. They had got a good start of me in the 

 direction in which the dogs were barking before I, too, 

 got hold of a gun and set off after them. All at once I 

 saw through the darkness the flash of a volley from those 

 in front, followed by another shot, then several more, 

 until at last it sounded like regular platoon firing. What 

 the deuce could it be ? They were standing on the 

 same spot, and kept firing incessantly. Why on earth 

 did they not advance nearer ? I hurried on, thinking it 

 was high time I came up with my snow-shoes to follow 

 the game, which must evidently be in full flight. Mean- 

 while they advanced a little, and then there was another 

 flash to be seen through the darkness, and so they went 



