THE WORLD'S AVOM>EUS. 713 



who were upon the point of succumbing to starvation. But there 

 was another long spell of fasting to follow, broken on December 

 29th by another seal, which, being small, was eaten raw at one 

 meal, including the skin and intestines. No more seals were 

 killed for so long a time that all but two of the doo-s were 



*""" 



slaughtered and devoured. After an absence of eighty-three 

 days the sun reappeared, and though it brought little warmth, its 

 rays cheered anew the drooping spirits of the starving and half- 

 frozen party. 



One day in February, after the appearance of the sun, Esqui- 

 mau Joe discovered a seal on some young ice near the wretched 

 camp. The ice had been formed during the night, and was not 

 strong enough to bear the weight of a man while remaining sta- 

 tionary, and yet too thick to force a boat through. It was a 

 dangerous experiment, but Joe decided to make an effort to 

 capture the seal. Seating himself in his kyack, two of the men 

 gave him a vigorous push from the floe, and he went skimmin" 



o a o 



over the smooth ice toward the seal, like a boy on his sled. The 

 seal was asleep, and allowed the boat to glide close to him, when 

 Joe quickly dispatched it with his harpoon. But the most dan- 

 gerous part of the adventure was yet to be performed, for if the 

 kyack -liould break through the thin ice it would be impossible 

 to get it out or to walk back to the floe ; but by skillful manage- 

 ment he succeeded in shoving the frail boat in safety over the 

 dangerous ice, dragging the seal after him, which was quickly 

 devoured by the hungry people, with many compliments to Joe 

 for his daring and successful hunt. 



When March approached seals became more plentiful, and were 

 >hot almost daily. Bears, also, were occasionally killed, for in 

 ihe latitude in which they were now drifting these animals are 

 both land and aquatic in their habits, and are often seen swim- 

 ming between ice-floes more than one hundred miles from land. 



A BEAR HUNT ON THE FLOE. 



ON the 28th of March, just after dark, Capt. Tyson heard a 

 noise outside the ice hut in which he and the Esquimaux lodged, 

 the other b lf ; " which the men lived, being a few feet distant. Joe, 



