124 THE GERMAN AECTIO EXPEDITION. 



the south-west, and, later, fine rain ; evening of the 1st 

 December, 32.2° Fahr. ; 3rd December, 35° Fahr., our 

 snow-buildings began to thaw ; 18th December, — 20° 

 Fahr. with a light sou'-wester, and the lowest tempera- 

 ture we ever had, being then in 67^° N.L. 



On the 16th of December, we greeted a white Arctic 

 fox as a messenger from land. Its appearance was indis- 

 putable evidence that the ice reached to the coast. The 

 fox, white with a black-tipped tail, was particularly con- 

 fiding, even bold. He scratched up the bear's flesh 

 buried in the snow, and had carried it off* to eat as we 

 approached him. He then quite unconstrainedly took a 

 walk on the roof of our house, and through the small 

 window convinced himself as to what was going on 

 within. Should we shoot it ? No ! It was a long time 

 since we had seen such a fearless creature. At times 

 we placed nets with a meat-bait to teaze him ; but he 

 always managed to get clear of them at the right time. 

 November and December passed without anything par- 

 ticular happening. On the 13th of December strong 

 northern hghts. On the 18th the full moon and spring 

 tide occurred, and with them, the usual ice pressure 

 which, in the night of the 20th to the 21st, destroyed 

 " Sinai," the locality of one of our walks. On the 

 afternoon of the 6th, a small white bear showed himself 

 near our house. We fired, and it fled over the young 

 ice, leaving traces of blood behind it. 



Thus we had passed the shortest day without any 

 serious danger. Christmas, that beautiful domestic festi- 

 val, drew near, and we felt inclined, as we were all in 

 good health, to keep it right festively in the proper spirit. 

 During the last few days we had had violent storms. On 



