238 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



gang-plank, as if to come on board for protection. 

 Alexey, however, met it with his rifle and killed it. 

 In its stomach were found some lemmings' tails and 

 nothing else. Immediately thereafter a bear appeared, 

 and Chipp succeeded in killing it, and to my great sat- 

 isfaction we have again fresh meat hanging in the rig- 

 ging. The bear weighs about four hundred pounds, 

 and its stomach is absolutely empty. I hail with great 

 satisfaction this evidence of animal life, for it will 

 enable me to make a very acceptable change from our 

 canned meat diet. In connection with this subject, I 

 may as well remark here that beyond a doubt canned 

 fresh meat is far superior to salt provisions. But it 

 requires a greater amount to satisfy hunger, and one 

 soon becomes weary of it because of its tastelessness. 

 All canned meat seems to taste alike. Such a thing 

 as canned turkey and canned chicken is a delusion 

 and a snare. There is such a hopeless confusion of 

 smashed bones and small pieces of meat that we have 

 unanimously called the resulting dish a " railroad ac- 

 cident." 



At nine p. m. a meteor was observed falling from 

 N. E. to E. At ten the ice commenced to grind and 

 move, the general direction of the movement being 

 from S. to N. At midnight the sky became suddenly 

 completely overcast, and while I was concluding that 

 this sudden darkness was due to ice openings presenting 

 warmer water to cold air, my conclusions were verified 

 by the ship receiving some severe nips. A careful ex- 

 amination of the surrounding ice showed no sign of dis- 

 turbance, nor was there a sound of movement any- 

 where. But I am satisfied that there was an ice opening 

 somewhere near the ship. 



February 2cl, Monday. — Upon calling me this morn- 



