The terrestrial mammals and birds of North-East Greenland. 57 



night between December 25'^^ and 26'^^), doubtlessly snatched away 

 by wolves. 



On January 6'^ in the forenoon, Hagerup and P. Hansen left 

 the said station at Pustervig in a sledge, drawn by 9 dogs. When 

 the travellers had come a little way out on the ice of Dove Bugt, 

 three w'hite wolves came rushing from the beach in direction of the 

 sledge. The travellers taking the animals to be bears in the dark, 

 let a couple of the dogs loose as usual when bears appeared. 

 Against custom the dogs seemed at once very anxious, and while 

 one of them fled back to the sledge trembling with fear, the pier- 

 cing howls of the other showed that it had been attacked by the 

 supposed bears. The sledge arriving at the fighting place, one of 

 the animals fled, while the two others remained standing defiantly, 

 till the travellers shot at them at a very close distance, yet without 

 hitting on account of the darkness. Through closer inspection of 

 the foot-prints of the animals, they were proved to originate from 

 wolves. During the drive back to the ship's harbour the sledge 

 was pursued all the way by the wolves which showed themselves 

 very impertinent now and then, to the great terror of the dogs. 



In the following days these wolves were ahvays to be felt in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of the ship. By means of a lantern 

 I was able to find the fresh traces of the animals everywhere, often 

 leading close to the side of the ship, along which the sledge dogs 

 of the expedition w^ere staying, protected to a great extent by sheds 

 and caves built in the snow. The dogs showed their terror of the 

 wolves uttering plaintive howls and barricading themselves on the 

 ship's deck and on the roof of the house lying on the beach. As 

 soon as a dog was imprudent enough to get a little way off from 

 the ship, the wolves came rushing to snatch it away. No less than 

 four dogs w^ere devoured by the wolves, and several others returned 

 to the ship w'ounded. As a rule the wolves would flench the skin 

 away from the top part of the dog's head besides inflicting wounds 

 on the animal's belly. The remains of the dogs that had been 

 bitten to death and devoured, were found in the shape of tufts of 

 hair not far from the ship, never on the ice, yet generally in the 

 neighbourhood of the beach. 



On account of the darkness and the frequent snow-storms it 

 was at first very difficult, not to say impossible, to make any at- 

 tempt of hunting the wolves, and not till January 11"^ did the wea- 

 ther permit me to set up some traps for the wolves a few kilo- 

 meters from the ship. A frozen dog's carcass which I found on the 

 deck of the ship was employed as a bait. The immediate result 



