1916] TO KING CHRISTIAN ISLAND 241 



I could see that they were incredulous. As we worked west, 

 however, it soon opened out by Amund Ringnes Island, proving 

 itself to be a long, narrow island about fifty feet above the surface 

 of the ice, I should judge. We find here along the shore tracks of 

 caribou. To-morrow we shall stop and try for game to save our 

 pemmican. We were obliged to feed yesterday and to-day, which 

 cuts us down twenty pounds each. 



Temperature — 23° at eight o'clock. 



Having fed on pemmican for two days, I was a little 

 concerned about the game-supply on Amund Ringnes 

 Island, realizing that the extent of my work depended 

 upon good fortune in this particular. My fears were 

 set aside, however, when we sighted a bear with two 

 cubs far out on the ice of Hendrickson Sound. They 

 had heard us as we rounded the point to the east, con- 

 sequently they had a good start. Our attention was 

 first called to a streak of blood on the snow; then we 

 saw the demolished seal igloo, and finally the carcass. 

 Arklio, with the field-glasses, made out the bears headed 

 at full speed for North Cornwall. 



Hastily we threw everything from our sledges and 

 whipped up the dogs. In the mean time, Noo-ka-ping- 

 wa's team had left without him, heading west along 

 the shore, and he after them, calling for them to stop. 

 Gradually they headed ojffshore, and he was soon in 

 the chase with us. And it was a chase! For ioive miles 

 we went as fast as I have ever been on a sledge. My 

 young dog, Pee-see-a, fell, and in a second was being 

 crushed under the bows of my leaping sledge. Creeping 

 forward, I managed to get a grip on his collar and yank 

 him free. 



The mother bear, with two little ones by her side, 

 could now be seen plainly. She stopped twice and 

 started back as if determined to defend them, but the 



