CHAPTER VIII. 



UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



April— May, 1880. 



Change of Routine. — Saving Fuel. — Driving a Dog Team. — A 

 New Resource. — Birds. — Dampness and Cold. — Canned Food. — 

 Completion of a Windmill. — Winter Lingering in the Lap of 

 Spring. — Pemmican. — Wasting of the Ice-Field. — Drift- Wood. 

 — Walrus. — Distant Land. — A Deep Holet — Sunshine at Mid- 

 night. — Target Shooting. — Pure Water. — Bears and Birds. — 

 Gloomy Weather. — Habits of the Dogs. — The Crew's Quarters. — 

 Danenhower's Condition. — The Ice as a Sledge-Road. — Bear 

 Hunts. — The Sick List. — Patience and Dullness. — Discouraging 

 Outlook. — Sledging. — New Leaks. — Looking for Release. 



Apkil 1st, Thursday. — This month opens with a 

 very pleasant incident. At 8.15 a. m. Ericksen rushed 

 into the cabin announcing, " Tliere is a big bear right 

 under the quarter." Away rushed Chipp, Dunbar, 

 Newcomb, and the doctor, the three former with ri- 

 fles. Alexey and Nindeinann were ah'eady on the ice 

 in pursuit of a fine large bear, all the dogs surround- 

 ing it, yelping and barking, and driving poor Bruin al- 

 most wild with the din. Shooting under these circum- 

 stances was almost certain to result in killino; a doer, ^o 

 the bear was enabled to get away about a mile from the 

 ship. The dogs managed him beautifully. While about 

 twenty of them would surround him out of reach of his 

 paws and distract his attention, a half dozen of them 

 would bite him, making the hair fly by mouthfuls. The 

 bear would then throw them off, and, sitting: on his 



