DOUBTFUL DIET. 
393 
I may mention, in connection with the fact which I 
have given from my journal, that I repeated the ex¬ 
periment several times afterward, and sometimes, but 
not always, with the same result. I remember once, 
near the Great Glacier, all our party sickened after 
feeding on the liver of a bear that we had killed; and 
a few weeks afterward, when we were tempted into a 
similar indulgence, we were forced to undergo the same 
penance. The animal in both cases was old and fat. 
The dogs ate to repletion, without injury. 
Another article of diet, less inviting at first, but 
which I found more innocuous, was the rat. We had 
failed to exterminate this animal by our varied and 
perilous efforts of the year before, and a well-justified 
fear forbade our renewing the crusade. It was mar¬ 
vellous, in a region apparently so unfavorable to repro¬ 
duction, what a perfect warren we soon had on board. 
Their impudence and address increased with their 
numbers. It became impossible to stow any thing be¬ 
low decks. Furs, woollens, shoes, specimens of natural 
history, every thing we disliked to lose, however little 
valuable to- them, was gnawed into and destroyed. 
They harbored among the men’s bedding in the fore¬ 
castle, and showed such boldness in fight and such 
dexterity in dodging missiles that they were tolerated 
at last as inevitable nuisances. Before the winter 
ended, I avenged our griefs by decimating them for my 
private table. I find in my journal of the 10th of 
October an anecdote that illustrates their boldness:— 
“ We have moved every thing movable out upon the 
