178 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 



frequent escapes. The other night one of the strag- 

 glers was taken by ColHns to be a bear. A rifle was 

 hurried for, but the ''bear" had left fortunately, else 

 we nii2:ht have had a dead doQ^ on our hands. Last 

 night one of them fearing an imprisonment must have 

 sought shelter on the ice lumps on the port side. At 

 all events he was there this evening ; and the ice hav- 

 ing moved off a few feet from us, leaving a water hole, 

 he could not come back the way he went, and would 

 not come by any other in spite of our coaxing. While 

 walking on the ice alongside I heard a subdued '' yelp " 

 under the bow, and rushing there I was just in time 

 to plunge my hand in the water, and save our canine 

 friend from going under for good. He was j^retty far 

 gone and remained in a dazed condition for an hour or 

 two after I hauled him out. 



November ^Ist, Friday. — Slight pressure in the 

 forenoon, after which the ice recedes, leaving a line of 

 open water on our port side. Sight the land again 

 on its accustomed bearings. Bright moonlight and star- 

 light. At twelve midnight a bright halo around the 

 moon about 2" in diameter, and showing prismatic colors, 

 the crimson on the outer edge predominating. The low 

 temjDcrature fills the air with frost dust, through which 

 the moon's rays are prismatically seen. Position at 

 seven p. m. shows a drift since November 17th of t^ven- 

 ty-two miles W. 4° S. 



November 22cZ, Saturday. — The day begins with a 

 calm, but at three a. m. a N. E. wind sets in, and blows 

 until midnight with varying velocity, the maximum 

 being thirteen miles. The barometer falls alarmingly 

 fast from 29.72 to 28.88, and the temperature rap- 

 idly runs up from minus 17° to plus 10°. The wind 

 blows in heavy squalls at times, but I see no indication 



