312 FARTHEST NORTH 



over, growling, it stood there looking sorrowfully some- 

 times at it, sometimes at the mother, who lay dying in 

 a pool of blood. When I approached, it turned its head 

 away indifferently ; what did it care about me now ? All 

 its kindred, everything it held dear, lay there mutilated 

 and destroyed. It no longer knew whither to go, and did 

 not move from the spot. I went right up to it, and, with 

 a spherical ball through the breast, it fell dead beside its 

 mother. 



" johansen soon came up. A lane had detained him, 

 so that he had kjst ground. We opened the animals, 

 took out the entrails, and then went back to the tent to 

 fetch the sledges and dogs and proper fkiying-knives. 

 Our second cup of chocolate in the tent tasted very good 

 after this interruption. When we had skinned and cut 

 up the two bears we left them in a heap, covered over 

 with the skins to protect the meat from the gulls; the 

 third one we took back with us. The next day we 

 fetched the others, and now ha\e more meat food than 

 we shall be able to consume, I hope. It is a good thing, 

 though, that we can give the dogs as much raw meat 

 as they will eat; they certainly require it. ' Suggen,' poor 

 thing, is in a very bad way, and it is a question whether 

 we can get any more work out of him. \\ hen we took 

 him with us after the bears the tirst day, he could- not 

 walk, and we had to place him on the sledge; but then 

 he howled so terrifically, as much as to say it was be- 

 neath his dignity to be transported in this way, that 



