418 NEW LAND. 



absurdness of the situation. I seemed to be playing time-keeper 

 in this interesting race, and I was much excited as to who would 

 come in first, Bay or the " other " dogs. 



' At seven in the morning I saw a little black spot moving in 

 the west. That must be Bay ! I went in and began to get the 

 food ready again, but as he was a long time coming I went out 

 once more. After searching for a long while through the glasses 

 I descried a dot as small as the time before, but now it was in 

 the north. At last, at nine o'clock in the morning, Bay entered 

 the tent a good first. 



' He had followed the tracks north, west, and finally south ; 

 and on his way back, as it was still so thick, had gone the same 

 round again, following the tracks to be quite certain of finding 

 his way. He had passed some of the dogs, but could not induce 

 any of them to follow him. At five in the afternoon " Ola " 

 and " Skrika " came in, after which the others arrived at intervals 

 of an hour, though "Indiana" and "Basen" were away for forty- 

 eight hours. 



'On the night of May 10 we had the same story over again. 

 A bear crept up to within a few paces of the dogs under the lee of 

 some hummocks, and when the team observed it they sang out, 

 broke loose, and gave chase. The second team did not get loose. 

 When we came out we saw the bear ahead, with the team full cry 

 after it. In the course of the afternoon four of the dogs came 

 back, but " Svarten " did not reappear. 



' The country between Bjorneodden and " Cape Svarten " (Black 

 Cape) is the lowest on the north side of North Devon. Farther 

 west it rises again somewhat, and averages 900 to 1200 feet in 

 height. 



' We had not yet had a single sunshiny day on North Devon. 

 Always calm weather with gently falling snow. Through the 

 mist we could see the sun shining on the north side of the sound. 

 The snow was so loose that it would seem as if there had been no 

 wind here the whole winter. From " Cape Skogn " to " Skruis- 

 odden" (Pressure-ice Point) the ice was of the worst kind, and 

 as nasty as any I had yet driven in. There were pitfalls in it 

 just as there are in boulder-strewn land covered with freshly 



