150 
PORTRAIT OF OLD GRIM. 
“His appearance was quite characteristic:—his 
muzzle roofed like the old-fashioned gable of a Dutch 
garret-window; his forehead indicating the most meagre 
capacity of brains that could consist with his sanity as 
a dog; his eyes small; his mouth curtained by long 
black dewlaps; and his hide a mangy russet studded 
with chestnut-burrs: if he has gone indeed, we 4 ne’er 
shall look upon his like again.’ So much for old 
Grim! 
“When yesterday’s party started to take soundings, 
I thought the exercise would benefit Grim, whose time¬ 
serving sojourn on our warm deck had begun to render 
him over-corpulent. A rope was fastened round him; 
for at such critical periods he was obstinate and even 
ferocious; and, thus fastened to the sledge, he com¬ 
menced his reluctant journey. Reaching a stopping- 
place after a while, he jerked upon his line, parted it a 
foot or two from its knot, and, dragging the remnant 
behind him, started off through the darkness in the 
direction of our brig. He has not been seen since. 
“Parties are out with lanterns seeking him; for it is 
feared that his long cord may have caught upon some 
of the rude pinnacles of ice which stud our floe, and 
thus made him a helpless prisoner. The thermometer 
is at 44°.6 below zero, and old Grim’s teeth could not 
gnaw away the cord. 
“December 23, Friday.—Our anxieties for old Grim 
might have interfered with almost any thing else; but 
they could not arrest our celebration of yesterday. Dr. 
Hayes made us a well-studied oration, and Morton a 
