•88 , EETUKN OF A DESERTER. Chap. V. 



At length I readied a place where the jagged 

 edges of the floes met, so crossed and got safely 

 on hoard. Nothing was seen during this walk 

 of nearly 25 miles except one seal. Recent 

 gales have drifted us rapidly southward ; cracks 

 and lanes are very numerous. 



On the 1st a blue (or sooty) fox was shot. 

 Although 130 geographical miles from the 

 nearest land he was very fat, hence we argue 

 dovekies were much more numerous during 

 winter than we supposed. We have often no- 

 ticed the tracks of foxes following up those of 

 the hears, probably for discarded scraps of the 

 seals upon which they prey. Hobson's favourite 

 dog " Chummie " has returned, after an absence 

 of six days, decidedly hungry, but he can hardly 

 have been without food all that time ; some fox 

 may have lured him off. He evinced great 

 delight at getting back, devoted his first atten- 

 tions to a hearty meal, then rubbed himself up 

 against his own particular associates, after which 

 he sought out and attacked the weakest of his 

 enemies, and, soothed by their bowlings, coiled 

 himself up for a long sleep. 



1st March. — February has been a remark- 

 ably mild, cloudy, windy month : the winter 

 temperature may be said to have passed away 

 by the 10th, the average temperature for the 



