FOSHEIM'S ACCOUNT. 293 



The day afterwards I lost ' Bismarck,' one of my strongest dogs. 

 I cannot, I regret, eulogize him by saying that he fell on the field 

 of honour, as he simply ate himself to death. ' Bismarck' was a 

 confirmed quarreller, and as stubborn as he could be. To thrash him 

 was as iiseless as throwing water on a goose. Five minutes after 

 a good round with the whip he was as cheerful as ever, ready for a 

 fresh onslaught. 



From the mouth of Heureka Sound we set straight across the 

 entrance to Baumann Fjord, which was twenty miles broad, 

 reaching Bjornekaplandet on June 1. Almost all the way along 

 its west coast was a low shore consisting for long distances of 

 sands, from which Lille Bjornekap stood up like an isolated cone. 

 The vegetation was vigorous, the animal life rich, and the land a 

 real Eldorado for sport ; one of the very best larders of the 

 west coast. Here we shot polar oxen and reindeer, and were 

 visited at the tent by a pack of wolves, which very nearly had us 

 in a tight corner. In on the flat sandy ground there was nothing 

 to which we could secure the dogs, and the only thing we could do 

 was to thrust our ' ski ' into a snowdrift and tie the dogs up to 

 them. At sight of the wolves the dogs broke loose, and off went 

 both teams hotfoot after them. 



This was a pretty state of affairs ! There was no saying when 

 we should see the runaways again. 



But happily chance came to our aid, this time in the shape of 

 an old polar ox, which was feeding alone in a narrow gully ; as 

 soon as the dogs discovered it, they gave up the wolves and turned 

 their attention to the ox. Like a good general, it had taken up a 

 position of defence, with its back against a steep cliff, and made 

 furious sallies at its eleven attackers. The ox was defending itself 

 splendidly, and was evidently the master of the situation until we 

 arrived on the scene and mixed ourselves up in the quarrel. 

 Before it died, however, it gave ' Turisten ' such a bad wound in 

 the side, that a piece of a rib and an intestine stuck out of the 

 gash. But it was an easy matter for the mate to put this to rights. 

 When we came to the tent he cut away the piece of bone, replaced 

 the intestine, and sewed the wound together with yellow book- 

 binder's thread. In a week's time ' Turisten ' was himself again. 



