IN WINTER QUARTERS 
63 
specimens of several species, including a number of 
different kinds of starfish. Our soundings showed 
that we were drifting in comparatively shallow 
waters shoaling to 105 fathoms on the first and to 
36 on the second. Mr. Hadley and I busied our¬ 
selves scraping deerskins, a necessary preliminary 
to their use in making clothing; the scraping is 
done to break the vellum, to loosen them up, for 
when they are hard they do not keep you so warm. 
November 4 we found another new animal in 
the dredge. The soundings now gave us only 28 
fathoms. The wind fluctuated in violence all day 
long, finally settling down to a good-sized gale, 
with drifting snow. On the seventh open water 
appeared about two miles from the ship. The 
Eskimo went out and shot ten seal. I was with 
them and we saw many more seal out in the water 
but they were too far away for us. 
November 10 was an unusually beautiful day. 
There was a fresh south wind and the temperature 
went up to twenty-three degrees above zero; it was 
almost like a spring day. About three miles from 
the ship the Eskimo shot six seal. They also got 
the first bear of our drift, a young one three or four 
years old, about six feet long, with a good coat. 
They had been on the lookout for bear, on account 
of the amount of seal meat they had left on the ice. 
I intended to give the skin of this bear to the 
