ii4 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



object closely followed by another and another. No need for 

 him to urge us to hasten forward, or to tell us what those huge 

 rolling balls were. " £t-j'ir-rer! ta-i et-jir-rer! " Three musk-ox, 

 and a few seconds later the dogs were all released and scatter- 

 ing out over the country, some in pursuit, some on the back 

 track, and other trotting complacently along at their master's 

 heels. They were not well-trained hunters; at sight of the 

 musk-ox even the threatening whip did not prevent them from 

 breaking into howls, and many of them were too spiritless to be 

 of any assistance in stopping the game. We followed as fast 

 as we could run. Then it was that I discovered the advan- 

 tage of having light clothing, light gun, and little ammunition. 

 The dogs soon overtook the clumsy musk-ox, which turned to 

 defend themselves as from a pack of wolves. They were not 

 held long at a time, but their flight was so hindered that they 

 were overtaken by my companions, who had distanced me, 

 after a run of three miles. 



Our lodge was set up that night beside the fallen carcasses, 

 and our teams for once had all they could eat. There were 

 several hundred pounds of meat with fat two inches in thick- 

 ness on the backs, meat of excellent quality, without the faint- 

 est trace of musk perceptible. That from one of the animals 

 was tender and as well flavored as any venison that I ever ate. 

 The others were tough, but the Dog Ribs preferred tough meat 

 to walking a dozen yards to get that of a younger animal. 

 The complexion of our diet was now changed; before we had 

 enjoyed caribou ribs boiled, garnished with handfuls of coarse 

 gray hairs; now we had boiled ribs of musk-ox with hairs of a 

 brownish black. 



I awakened next morning with a sense of weight upon my 

 blanket, and my ears were greeted with a rushing roar caused 

 by a northeast gale, which had covered everything inside our 

 lodge, to a depth of a foot or more, with fine flour-like snow. 

 It was impossible to face such a blizzard without freezing in a 

 few minutes. All landmarks were obscured, so that we could 

 not continue upon our course. As we had only wood enough 

 for the time that we expected to be engaged in actual travel, 

 we could have no fire on days like this, when we were com- 

 pelled to "lay to." We remained in our blankets until midday, 

 when a kettle of meat was (half) boiled and we turned in again. 



