3. Before we started, there was an interesting interruption in the monotony of our lives, occasioned by a family of bears. While we were absent in our first journey a bear had been shot from the ship, and little Pekel had been wounded in the neck. On the 19th of March another bear came close to us, which was scared away after some unsuccessful shots had been fired at it. Three days afterwards a she-bear appeared accompanied by her two cubs, of a darker colour than their mother, rolling on after her. It was exceedingly interesting to watch the actions of this family. The mother frequently stopped and snuffed the air with uplifted snout; then she would lick her cubs, who fondly crept up to their mother, behaving exactly like young poodles, which they also resembled in size. Six shots were fired at seventy paces distance, and the mother-bear, after running for about forty paces, fell dead. Amazed at the reports of the rifles and the actions of their mother, the little bears sat as if they were rooted in the snow, and looked with astonishment at the dark forms which rushed out from the ship. One of them suffered itself to be shaken by Pekel; and only when they were seized by the nape of the neck and carried on board did they seem to entertain the least surmise of mischief. At first they were shut up separately in casks set on their end, and growled long and impatiently till they were put together in the same cask. Sumbu alone was slow to understand our suddenly-excited pity for his hereditary foes, and scratched and barked at the cask for hours together, while the cubs growled and threatened retaliation with their little paws. After looking at this for some time, Gillis was moved to side with the bears, and a battle ensued between him and Sumbu, in which the latter got the worst of it. The little animals afforded us much amusement, and the crew were seriously considering the feasibility of training them to draw in the sledge, in the meditated return expedition to Europe. They ate bread, sauerkraut, bacon—in short, everything that was given them. One morning, however, the little rascals eluded the eye of the watch and got away. They were immediately caught and killed, and appeared roasted on our dinner-table. [Illustration: THE DOGS DIFFER AS TO THE TREATMENT OF YOUNG BEARS.] 4. On the 25th of March our preparations for the extended journey northwards were brought to an end. The sledge with its load weighed about 14 cwt.