CHAPTER XXXIX, 



HOMEWARD BOUND.— ENTERING MELVILLE BAY. — ENCOUNTER WITH A BEAR. 

 — MEETING THE PACK. — MAKING THE "SOUTH WATER." — REACHING UPER- 

 NAVIK. — THE NEWS. — TO GOODHAVEN. — LIBERALITY OF THE DANISH GOV- 

 ERNMENT AND THE GREENLAND OFFICIALS. — DRIVEN OUT OF BAFFIN BAY 

 BY A GALE. — CRIPPLED BY THE STORM AND FORCED TO TAKE SHELTER 

 IN HALIFAX. — HOSPITABLE RECEPTION. — ARRIVAL IN BOSTON. — REALIZE 

 THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. — THE DETERMINATION. — CONCLUSION. 



My story is soon ended. Having completed the ex- 

 ploration of Whale Sound, we tripped our anchor and 

 stood southward. The heavens were bright and the 

 air soft with a summer warmth; and as we glided 

 down the waveless waters, all sparkling with icebergs, 

 watching the scene of our adventures slowly sinking 

 away behind us under the crimson trail of the mid- 

 night sun, it seemed truly as if smooth seas and gen- 

 tle winds had come to invite us home. 



But this repose of the elements was of short du- 

 ration. A dark curtain rose after a while above the 

 retreating hills, and sent us a parting salute, in the 

 shape of a storm of snow and wind, so that we were 

 soon obliged to gather in some of our canvas, and keep 

 a sharp look-out. 



My purpose was to reach the "West Water," by 

 making a course toward Pond's Bay, then round the 

 " middle ice " to the southward, and make an easterly 

 course for the Greenland coast. 



The atmosphere cleared up at length, but the wind 

 held on fiercely. Being from the north-northeast, it 

 seemed to me then to favor an easterly rather than a 



