128 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



originally at five miles distance, proved to be between 

 twenty and twenty - five, land wliicli we estimate at 

 sixty miles would prove to be, — I do not care to haz- 

 ard a guess. At twelve we w^ere able to determine our 

 latitude to be 71° 49' N. We were unable to get sights 

 for longitude owing to cloudy sky in forenoon and af- 

 ternoon, so we know only that we have gone to the 

 northward four miles in one day. 



In the hope of securing better drinking water for 

 our use Melville has placed in the water kettles on the 

 cabin and forecastle stoves a ground tier of charcoal. 

 It is an experiment to be sure, for we cannot hoj)e that 

 the charcoal will absorb salt. 



Sej^temher 17th, Wednesday. — A most exciting day. 

 Early in the morning Lieutenant Chipp and Mr. Dun- 

 bar went out to have a look at the bear-trap, and they 

 came back at nine to inform me that a bear had evi- 

 dently been caught in the trap, and had succeeded in 

 breaking it away from the ice and carrying it off with 

 him. Adding Melville to the party we at once set out 

 in pursuit. Reaching the place where the trap had 

 been set, one mile from the ship, we had no difficulty 

 in finding the bear's tracks and following his trail, for 

 the trap made a broad mark, easy enough to trace, 

 even if the drops of blood had not been sufficient. We 

 saw also the tracks of two other bears, one on each side 

 of the entrapped one, as if two friends had remained 

 by him to encourage him in his retreat. We had a 

 long tramp of nearly six miles in the chase. Being 

 somewhat heavily clad and suffering from the heat I 

 had fallen a little behind the others, when I heard a 

 bear howling as if in pain. I ran forward, but the 

 others had already sighted the game and opened fire, 

 and I reached the scene of action in time only to 



