454 NEW LAND. 



' On April 17, I hoisted all three flags in honour of a birthday 

 in my family. It was intended, of course, that the day should 

 be one of rejoicing, but instead it turned out to be a day of 

 mourning, for as I was going my walk to the outlook, I saw away 

 under Stormkap something which was plainly moving. This 

 something proved on further investigation to be a bear, which was 

 walking slowly and majestically along the old sledge-tracks. I lay 

 long on my stomach, in good cover, up at the outlook, and watched 

 the animal. The wind was in the east that is to say, favourable 

 and I began to look forward to a fray, when suddenly the bear, 

 apparently quite without motive, turned away from the tracks, and, 

 still in the same slow time, marched off to the pressure-ice. I 

 went after it, but never saw the animal again. 



'On April 22, a deserter, young "Mr. Peary," one of the 

 puppies, turned up from Schei's corps. He was at once arrested 

 and embodied in the Bjorneborg garrison, though not without 

 audible protest. He was rather tired, but not at all hungry, and 

 had probably spent some days at the walrus shot by the Captain's 

 party, until most likely a bear had driven him off, for he had run 

 away from Schei as long ago as April 15. 



' On May 8, at one in the morning, Captain Baumann, the 

 mate, and Stolz arrived from the " Train." They had all sorts of 

 good things with them for me in the shape of cake, fish-pudding, 

 books, and a bottle, little but good. They only stayed till the 

 evening of the next day, when they went on west. 



' The following period was short, but the pleasantest I spent at 

 Bjorneborg new books to read, good food, and good weather. On 

 the night of May 10 the garrison was alarmed by both the dogs 

 giving tongue, and when the commandant emerged, " Tiger " was 

 standing looking down at -the ice-foot, right below the house, 

 where I could not see it. When I crept, gun in hand, to where 

 he was, I saw that it was not a bear, but one of Captain Baumann's 

 dogs, which had run away from him, and was now lying in its old 

 place. At ten o'clock at night on May 13, Captain Baumann and 

 his party arrived ; they stayed till the evening of the 14th, when 

 they went east. I then kept only the puppy, called " Krybdyret" 

 (The Reptile), and sometimes " Basilisken." 



