128 NEW LAND. 



the land ; and besides, it is my opinion that a polar ox would 

 make short work of a polar bear. The ox is so quick in its 

 movements, has such enormous strength of neck, and is provided 

 with such formidable, pointed horns, that, as far as a bear is 

 concerned, it has no cause for alarm. 



What other enemy, then, has it to fear in these tracts ? The 

 wolf ? Yes that is indeed the only one ; but in these parts the wolf 

 does not appear in large packs. As a rule, they go about singly 

 or in couples (the greatest number I ever saw together was 

 twelve), and they live chiefly on the innocent Arctic hares in 

 which the country abounds. Other enemy in the brute kingdom 

 the polar ox has not, in the Arctic tracts where it is now to be 

 found. Either it must have migrated hither from regions where it 

 had more dangerous enemies, or else the wolf in earlier times 

 must have appeared in such large packs that collective defence 

 was a necessity. I incline to the latter view. Their tactics and 

 entire system of defence point to the assumption that they have 

 been obliged to defend themselves against a mass-attack from an 

 enemy which could overcome them by "its numbers, but which 

 they could easily conquer singly. The successive attacks with 

 always fresh forces manifestly take place with a view of drawing 

 on one or more assailants in order to destroy them singly, and 

 thus by degrees diminish their number. Were not this the inten- 

 tion, the square in itself would be enough to hinder any attack ; 

 but then the oxen, which are ruminants, and whose system of 

 nourishment requires continual food, could easily be starved out 

 by the assailants, which, like most other beasts of prey, are able to 

 sustain hunger and tttirst for weeks together. 



On the occasion I have described, our dogs were several times 

 hard pressed. At one moment an ox got hold of one of them by 

 the harness, and I thought the dog was done for ; it was only by 

 a hair's-breadth that it escaped. Bay then went within range 

 and fired at them, but the animals stood as if nothing had 

 happened. I advised him to aim at the head, which he did, and 

 then an animal fell for every shot. 



In my diary I read : ' There were four fine oxen. Two of 

 them were veterans with broken horns, testifying to past victories ; 



