GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



They stop suddenly by the iee-foot about 500 metres from 

 our tent and follow for a whole hour, thoroughly examining the 

 trail of Koch and Ajako, trotting up and down, now and then 

 stopping to sniff. Then they lift their heads and howl long 

 and persistently, a strangely melancholic and lonely-sounding 

 song of lamentation, which echoes between the mountains. 

 Our dogs prick their ears and look landward in surprise, as if 

 they heard well-known but forgotten tunes ; they arise and 

 stare searchingly towards the mountains, but they do not join 

 in the chorus. As the wolves do not appear to wish to come 

 nearer, Ajako approaches them with gun and a dog, a small, 

 lean bitch which has previously shown itself to be a good bear 

 dog. One of the wolves, evidently the male, is very large and 

 strong, and its trot is springy and the fall of its feet rapid. 

 The other one seems somewhat frailer, but nevertheless it is 

 more sinewy than a dog. As soon as the little white bitch 

 catches sight of these rare beasts of prey, which have the same 

 colour as itself, it rushes barking to the land, with tail erect, 

 ready to attack. But the big, silent hermits, which are so much 

 stronger and in full possession of their knife-sharp teeth, put 

 their tails between their legs and flee cowardly in among the 

 mountains. They both have blood on their chops, and have 

 presumably just been feasting on musk-ox meat ; a smaller 

 animal could hardly have smeared them so extensively with 

 blood. An hour later the little dog returned, steaming with 

 heat, but apparently disappointed over the lost opportunity of 

 an open fight. 



It is six o'clock in the morning when we go to rest after a 

 long day full of events. 



On the inward journey travelling conditions are yet more 

 difficult ; the uneven ice and the snow, which becomes deeper 

 and deeper the further we go, take the strength out of the dogs 

 to such an extent that I decide to abandon driving and attempt 

 to continue on skis. We make a halt by a headland and shoot 

 four of the slackest dogs. After this, we give the remaining 

 dogs a feed of musk-oxen. The original decision was to con- 

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