184 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



during auroras, which he intended to turn over to a special- 

 ist for purposes of analysis and judgment. He always found 

 disturbances of the needle coincident with the most brilliant 

 auroras. He also ran the telephones, which, however, gave a 

 great deal of trouble, owing to the wires being broken by the 

 wind and the ice movements. Those on the ship of course 

 were all right. During my sickness he also made observa- 

 tions of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, and got some 

 excellent results for chronometer errors by using an improved 

 ship's telescope mounted on a barrel. He afterward used 

 the transit telescope similarly mounted. This was the best 

 data for our chronometers, being far superior to lunar 

 observations. 



The summer weather was very bright and pleasant for 

 about fifteen days in July, and when the thermometer was 

 above 40 degrees Fahrenheit we called it a warm day ; but 

 the latter parts of July and August were particularly bad, 

 being foggy and raw. 



During the first year we got sufficient game for table 

 use, and seal -skins for clothing for the men, but this neces- 

 sitated a great deal of hunting, and there was a great scarcity 

 of game in this region. The seal most frequently obtained 

 was the species called by Lamont, the " floe rat," and averages 

 about sixty pounds in weight, and thirty to forty pounds 

 when dressed. The men generally made up the skins into 

 boots and trousers. The meat was not pleasant to the taste, 

 and it required the strongest philosophy to enable one to eat 

 it at all. AValrus was scarce, the depth of water being a 

 little too great for them, as they seldom inhabit depths of 

 more than fifteen fathoms. We got six, however, which 

 furnished excellent food for the dogs, and our Chinese cook 

 was an adept in making walrus sausage for our cuisine. 



Bear chases were frequent and exciting, and about fif- 

 teen animals were obtained the first year. Mr. Dunbar was 

 the champion bear-slayer, and was always ready for a keen 

 jump when game was reported. During the first winter a. 

 t rcmendous bear approached the ship about midnight, drove 



