BLAAMANDEN AND BAY FJORD. 391 



somewhat scattered, the animals drew nearer together, but did not 

 form a square. It would appear from this scene that the polar ox 

 stands in no great awe of the wolf ; at all events, when it does not 

 appear in greater numbers than on this occasion. On the other 

 hand, it would seem as if the wolf has a good deal of respect for 

 the oxen. We went a short trip ashore to look on at closer 

 quarters, but both parties remained in statu quo, and the only 

 result of our pains was the tilling of our ears with the wolves' 

 dismal howling. 



As far as I was concerned there was no sleep to be had that 

 night. We fried beef, talked, and enjoyed existence as best we 

 could, until we started taking observations again at half-past four. 

 We left about six, and at first followed the track of the wounded 

 wolf. It had gone towards land in short marches of twenty or 

 thirty paces, lying down between each march to rest a while. We 

 let wolves be wolves, and shaped the course across to Bay Fjord. 



All the paraffin we now had left would not more than fill the 

 ' Primus.' We could not run to any great extravagances with this, 

 but the cold time was over, and there was nothing for it but 

 parsimony. We might, moreover, expect to shoot bear or seal, 

 and even if the oil did come to an end we could get on without it. 

 Things might be bad if we happened to be weather-bound, but 

 there did not seem to be any likelihood of this. We therefore 

 decided to follow our hearts' desire and drive up to the head of 

 Bay Fjord. 



The weather was warm, and the dogs then are always slack, 

 even when they are in good condition. As we approached the 

 opposite shore the snow became very loose, and they had to have 

 the whip. 



Across the sound were several new bear-tracks, and we 

 saw, among other things, that near an iceberg a bear had done 

 some extensive engineering work, which it had probably taken 

 several days to accomplish. It had made excavations in various 

 parts of a snow-drift, in order to make a passage down to a seal- 

 hole, though, poor fellow, his calculations had seemingly come to 

 naught. 



In these warm days it was not easy to find a dry camping-place 



