236 FARTHEST NORTH 



would bear lasting marks of another part of the body ; 

 and the table-clotli — well, we fortunately do not possess 

 such a thing. In short, coal -shifting is as dirty and 

 wretched an experience as one can well imagine in 

 these bright and pure surroundings. One good thing 

 is that there is plenty of fresh water to wash with ; we 

 can find it in every hollow on the floes, so there is 

 some hope of our being clean again in time, and it is 

 possible that this may be our last coal-shifting. 



" Monday, September 25th. Frozen in faster and 

 faster! Beautiful, still weather; 13 degrees of frost last 

 night. Winter is coming now. Had a visit from a 

 bear, which was off again before any one got a shot 

 at it." 



