462 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 



dead, by declining to be caught for harnessing. Fol- 

 lowing on the wings of the procession they saw the car- 

 cass laid out for cutting up, and then, falling victims to 

 their stomachs' cravings, they came near for the scraps, 

 were caught, the blocks of wood hung to their necks, 

 and thus weighted set at liberty. But soon after, as if 

 to show they were not subdued if burdened, they gave 

 chase to their prey of the morning, and caused him to 

 make his best time on record in covering the short dis- 

 tance remaining to the gang-plank. The dimensions of 

 our prize were as follows : — 



Length from tip of nose to end of backbone equals 7 ft. 4 in. 



Length from tip of nose to end of tail . 



Girth abaft fore shoulder .... 



Girth of fore leg below shoulder . 



Girth of bind leg below shoulder 



Length of fore leg below shoulder 



Weight before skinning and dressing 



Such an addition to man and dog food is well worthy 

 of a page in my journal. 



In accordance with my custom, the skin and head go 

 to the captor, Mr. Dunbar. He very generously gave 

 them to Melville, who intends putting the skin in pickle 

 and presenting it to Engineer in Chief Shock, upon our 

 return to the United States. Otherwise the day was as 

 all other days with us. 



September 2Wi, Wednesday. — Another of our clogs 

 has fallen a victim to swallowing a bone, and of course 

 it happens to be one of our effective dogs. We could 

 very well spare one of the half dozen old skeletons that 

 would not grow fat if they ate forever, but they seem 

 to have a hold on life that nothing short of a bullet can 

 loosen. I cannot distinguish the defunct by a name, for 

 to me he has had none, though the men may have chris- 



