286 FARTHEST NORTH 



Steadily southward. This is almost depressing. The 

 two runaways returned this morning. 



"Tuesday, October 17th. Continuous movement in 

 the ice. It slackened a little again during the night; 

 some way off to starboard there was a large opening. 

 Shortly after midnight there was strong pressure, and 

 between 1 1 and 1 2 a.m. came a tremendous squeeze ; 

 since then it has slackened again a little. 



"Wednesday, October i8th. When the meteorolo- 

 gist, Johansen, was on deck this morning reading the 

 thermometers, he noticed that the dogs, which are now 

 tied up on board, were barking loudly down at some- 

 thing on the ice. He bent over the rail astern, near the 

 rudder, and saw the back of a bear below him, close in at 

 the ship's side. Off he went for a gun, and the animal 

 fell with a couple of shots. We saw afterwards by its 

 tracks that it had inspected all the heaps of sweepings 

 round the ship. 



" A little later in the morning I went for a stroll on 

 the ice. Hansen and Johansen were busy with some 

 magnetic observations to the south of the ship. It was 

 beautiful sunshiny weather. I was standing beside an 

 open pool a little way ahead, examining the formation 

 and growth of the new ice, when I heard a gun go off on 

 board. I turned, and just caught a glimpse of a bear 

 making off towards the hummocks. It was Henriksen 

 who had seen it from the deck coming marching towards 

 the ship. When it was a few paces off it saw Hansen 



