460 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



the dampness has altogether disappeared from the berth 

 deck. In fact, it is drier than it has ever been, winter 

 or summer, since we came within the Arctic Circle. 

 Alexey's house is already occupied by him, and the 

 stove is in place on the old galley platform. 



September 28th, Tuesday. — The usual monotony of 

 our lives was broken in upon to-day by the appearance 

 and capture of a large bear, and it is such a welcome 

 addition to our larder that its acquisition deserves more 

 than a passing mention. Early this morning our " hood- 

 lum gang," Prince, Tom, and Wolf, made an attack 

 upon a valuable dog, Jim, and nearly ate him up before 

 they could be driven off. The doctor fortunately saw 

 them and went to the rescue, or we might have been 

 minus a four-footed friend. These hoodlums have in- 

 augurated a reign of terror among the pack. If a sin- 

 gle dog strays away twenty feet from the ship, they 

 pounce down on him like a. hawk on a chicken, and 

 proceed at once to " chew him up ; " and as they are 

 generally describing uneasy circles around the ship, 

 they make the entire neighborhood unsafe for strag- 

 glers. The whole pack seem to be afraid of these three 

 dogs, and cower alongside of or near the gang-plank 

 ready for a retreat. Religiously shirking work, the 

 " hoodlums " object to other dogs working, and attack 

 them if they do work. We have anchored them and 

 tied, them up until their howling became a nuisance, 

 and we had to release them in self-defense ; but they 

 were as intractable as ever. On this occasion it was de- 

 termined to tie large blocks of wood to them, to ham- 

 per them in running away from work, and make their 

 fighting qualities somewhat less obtrusive. Getting 

 ready the blocks was one thing and attaching them to 

 the dogs another, for suspecting evil the " hoodlums " 



