THE NEW YEAR, i8g6 479 



at the thought of the good service they had done ; but 

 they are now so heavy with oil and dirt that they must 

 be several times their original weight, and, if they were 

 squeezed, oil would ooze out of them." It was undenia- 

 bly pleasant to put on the new, light, soft trousers of 

 blanket, which were, to some extent, free from grease. 

 As, however, this material was loose in texture, I was 

 afraid it might wear out before we reached Spitzbergen, 

 and we had therefore strengthened it both inside and 

 outside with pieces of an old pair of drawers and of a 

 shirt to protect it from wear. 



While I was taking some observations outside the hut 

 on Saturday, May i6th, I saw a bear with quite a small 

 young one out on the ice. I had just taken a turn out 

 there, and they were examining my tracks. The mother 

 went first, going up on to all the hummocks I had been 

 upon, turning round and snifhng and looking at the 

 tracks, and then descendino- ao-ain and oroinir on. The 

 tiny young one trotted along behind, exactly repeating 

 the movements of its mother. At last they grew tired 

 of this, and turned their steps towards the shore, dis- 

 appearing behind the promontory to the north of us. 

 Shortly after Johansen came out, and I told him about 

 it, and said : " I expect we shall soon see them in the 

 cleft up there, as the wind is that way." I had scarcely 

 said it, when, looking across, we saw them both stand- 

 ing, stretching their necks, sniffing, and looking at us 

 and the hut. We did not want to shoot them, as we 



