BAD- WEATHER CAMP. 393 



by getting his muzzle off and eating it ; he had then appropriated 

 those of his companions, first gnawing them off and then 

 consuming them. The traces had gone the same way, including 

 the iron swivels, and only a little was left of the harness. 

 'Gammelgulen' had not all this on his conscience, it is true, but 

 he had eaten by far the larger share, so it was not to be wondered 

 at that he did not feel very well ; in fact, it was astounding that 

 he lived at all. He was ill for many days, and it was a long time 

 before he was quite himself again ; but he survived the diet, and 

 added to the reputation of the Eskimo dog's stomach. 



The dogs picked up very much during the course of the day, 

 lying in the sun and enjoying its warmth ; and when I gave them 

 a last turn with the scraper in the evening their coats were in 

 pretty good order again. It was not easy work patching together 

 all the remains of the harness, but I had some reserve gear with 

 me, and as Fosheim later on lent me a couple of lanyards, I, in a 

 measure, put things right again. 



So passed the day. In the evening I took an observation for 

 longitude but Fosheim ? What in the world could he have done 

 with himself ? I had heard no shots, so that if he was shooting he 

 must be far away. 



While I was putting things to rights outside the tent I caught 

 sight of a black speck which I did not remember to have seen 

 before, out on the ice by the nearer of the two islands we had 

 discovered. I did not take much notice of it, thinking it was 

 probably the shadow of a hillock, or something of the kind. A 

 little while later I happened to look in the same direction, and 

 then saw that the speck had grown a good deal larger, and 

 that it was moving. I could soon distinguish the outlines of a 

 man walking in the direction of the camp. There were not many 

 people to guess at, and as it was not I who was walking out there 

 it was probably Fosheim. But how could this be? We had 

 parted company in the east, and now he was far, far away in the 

 west. Had he begun to circulate like a heavenly body ? 



When he arrived at the camp he had to give a detailed account 

 of his excursion, the gist of which was that he had first followed 

 the tracks some way to the south, across a bay, to a point on 



