94 SEAL-STEAKS. Chap. VI. 



will do all the rest. It is really wonderful what 

 cures nature and instinct effect : notwithstand- 

 ing the extreme cold, no external dressings are 

 applied, because the animal must not be pre- 

 vented from licking its wound. Petersen says 

 this bear must be very thin, else he could not 

 run so fast. I think it very probabla that he 

 has been hunted before, and that fear lent him 

 wings. A black whale has been seen. 



ll^A. — Two small seals free from taint were 

 shot yesterday, so we had fried liver and steaks 

 for breakfast this morning ; both were good, 

 but the steaks were preferred ; they were very 

 dark and very tender, had been cut thin, de- 

 prived of all fat, and washed in two or three 

 waters to get rid of the blubber; 



1 &th. — Several long lanes of water have again 

 opened, but now all of them extend parallel to 

 the direction of the straits ; one lane passed 

 within 120 yards of the ship ; its extremes are 

 not visible even from aloft; the ice upon its 

 east side has a more rapid southerly motion 

 than that upon its west side. 



18^A. — Last night the ice closed, shutting up 

 our lane, but its opposite sides continued for 

 several hours to move past each other, rubbing 

 off all projections, crushing, and forcing out of 

 water masses four feet thick : although 120 yards 



