228 



ARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



mal's left ear. ' King-ok,' a fine dog, was the subject of this wick- 

 ed act. King-ok's offense was biting harnesses. As I have said 

 before in my journal, let a dog offend an Innuit, and woe be to 

 the dog ! Any instrument at hand is used in administering pun- 

 ishment. In this case a snow-knife was seized, and my noble dog 

 King-ok became the terrible sufferer of an ungoverned passion. 



" I had allowed my six dogs, in order to complete the team of 

 twelve, to be used in making this Frobisher Bay trip for the ad- 

 vancement of the George Henry 1 s interests. Captain B burned 



with laudable indignation on learning the sad condition of my 

 dog. What astounded me, and every one of the ship's company, 

 was the discovery of the fact that Koojesse was the Innuit who 

 committed this brutal deed. His only excuse was that his com- 

 panion Charley had first severed the ear of his dog, and he (Koo- 

 jesse) thought he must do the same to my dog. 



"But what of this — cruel and savage though these two acts 

 were — compared with the terrible story I am yet to relate ? 



"Yesterday morning, after breakfast, I went upon deck, and 

 there met Ad Bailey, who said to me, standing by the gangway, 

 ' Charley has just told me that the Frenchman, John Brown, start- 

 ed from the igloos of Frobisher Bay with them (Koojesse and 

 Charley) ; that he, Brown, finally left them, and came on ahead ; 

 that they saw nothing more of Brown ; but, as they passed from 

 the land on to the ice of Field Bay, this side, saw his tracks, and 

 wished to know of Bailey what time Brown arrived at the vessel.' 



" Bailey had just ascertained from the hands forward where 

 Brown belonged that he had not arrived! At once, under a pain- 

 ful apprehension of the real state of the case, I rushed down into 

 the cabin, made my way to the captain's room, where I found him 

 preparing for his usual deck- walk, and announced to him the facts 

 I had just learned, telling him of my immediate readiness to go in 

 search of him who I knew must be lost, suffering, or — as I feared 

 from the cold of the night (57° below the freezing point) — a dead 



man. Captain B instantly went forward, and learned that 



what I had told him was too true — that Brown had not arrived. 

 Only a bundle of blankets and fresh walrus meat was there, just 

 brought in by Charley, the same having been placed on the sledge 



by Brown on the point of starting home. Captain B ordered 



Brown's ship companions to go in immediate search. This was 



responded to cheerfully, of course. Captain B returned to 



the aft cabin, and told me that parties were getting ready to move. 



