NANSEN'S EXPEDITION (1895) 227 



skin them, but as there was a danger of being sent adrift, 

 the wind having risen, Nansen took the wise precaution of 

 bringing up the kayaks and sledges. It was as well he 

 did so, for while they were busily engaged skinning the 

 animals, the wind rose rapidly, and they suddenly dis- 

 covered that the ice had broken off and that they were 

 adrift. They hurriedly cut off as much walrus-flesh as 

 possible and flung it into the kayaks, but it was a hard 

 pull to reach the shore in the storm. Meanwhile the ice 

 on which the bodies of the walruses were, drifted out to 

 sea and disappeared. During the following night they 

 were again awakened by a bear outside the hut. It was 

 a she-bear with two large cubs. The mother was shot, 

 but the cubs took to the water, where they reached a 

 piece of floating ice. Nansen decided to go out in the 

 kayaks after the cubs. When they went to get the 

 kayaks, they found that the bears had been at the walrus- 

 meat and devoured every piece of fat and blubber on it. 

 One of the kayaks was thrown half into the water, and 

 the other high up among the stones, but fortunately they 

 were still seaworthy. The kayaks were launched, and the 

 cubs chased to land, where they were shot. Three bears 

 in one day was good work, and to add to their satisfaction, 

 the sunken walrus shot on the previous day was found 

 floating at the edge of the ice. It was towed into a place 

 of safety in a creek and made fast. After skinning the 

 bears and covering up the flesh, they turned in for sleep, 

 as they had obtained little the two previous nights. On 

 the 2nd September they set to work on the skinning of 

 the walrus. Another walrus, evidently curious to see 

 what was going on, came into the channel where the dead 

 walrus was lying, and approached right up to the edge of 

 the ice where Nansen and Johansen stood. Its curiosity 

 cost it its life, and there were now two walruses to skin 

 instead of one. This work was far from agreeable : they 



