196 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



formation with the conclusions to be drawn from it is made part 

 of a series of scientific reports on the work of the expedition pub- 

 lished by the Canadian Government.* 



By May 13th we had fed to the dogs several pairs of worn-out 

 skin boots, the two grizzly bear skins off which we had used the hair 

 for fuel, and some other bedding. We ourselves were on a ration 

 of three-quarters of a pound of food per day, at which rate there 

 remained enough for two or three days only. It seemed to me 

 that this was about as close to the wind as we ought to sail, so 

 after traveling eleven miles that day we stopped beside open water 

 to watch for seals. During the first two hours we saw several and 

 killed two. This was encouraging so far as it went, although our 

 hopes had a severe blow through the prompt sinking of both as 

 soon as they had been shot. Here was another of my theories 

 that might have gone wrong. It is familiar knowledge that in the 

 vicinity of land seals killed in winter will in most cases float, while 

 if killed in the spring they sink. Common belief among the Es- 

 kimos and whalers was that they sink because in the spring the 

 seals are not as fat as in winter. My view was that they sank 

 probably because in the spring the rivers bring a large amount 

 of fresh water to the ocean, thus reducing the salinity of the water 

 near land. Everyone knows that eggs and potatoes will float in 

 brine, and that in many of the salt lakes it is impossible for a 

 bather to sink, while swimming in salt water is easier than in fresh. 

 I had reasoned that, although seals when shot in the spring might 

 sink near shore where the water was comparatively fresh, they 

 would float if killed at distances remote from land where the water, 

 at least up to the beginning of the summer thaws on the ice, would 

 have the same degree of salinity in May as in February. 



The sinking of the first two seals killed was a bit disconcerting, 

 although we explained it by recalling that a certain small percen- 

 tage of seals will sink at any season. There is no denying that 

 after this experience we had a troubled day. At none of several 

 leads that we passed did we dare to risk stopping, for fear any seals 

 killed might sink, leaving nothing to pay us for time lost in the 

 hunting. 



The dogs had become noticeably thinner. Had they been Es- 



* For information regarding the scientific reports of the expedition, address 

 Deputy Minister of Naval Service, Ottawa. Three octavo volumes are now 

 ready. The entire series of reports will probably fill between twenty and 

 thirty octavo volumes. It will doubtless be several years till the last volume 

 is ready. 



