Elated with our success, and having sent back to the ship for assistance in conveying the meat on board, we commenced skinning, cleaning, and cutting up the animals, so as to guard against the possibility of any delay in doing so being the means of tainting the flesh with the disagreeable musky odour. This, in consequence of the scarcity of knives amongst the party, was a long and tedious process; however, by nine o'clock we had the satisfaction of seeing our "morning's bag" safely on board, amounting altogether to 2,124 lbs. of good fresh meat. Not a bad morning's work! [Illustration: MUSK OXEN.] These animals, from peculiarities they possess, are placed in a genus between the sheep and the ox, and are called _ovibos moschatus_. They are only met with in high latitudes, although traces of them, it is reported, have been seen as far south as 59° N. lat., but they are rarely seen in any numbers lower than 67° N. lat. They have been seen, and shot, in large numbers, by the various search expeditions wintering at and about Melville Island, and they were also obtained on the opposite side of Kennedy Channel by the "Polaris" in 1872. The crew of this latter vessel succeeded in shooting twenty-six during the twelve months they passed in this latitude. They are gregarious, usually wandering in small herds, although occasionally single specimens are found. The herd just obtained by us consisted of one old bull and four old cows, and two young bulls and two young cows. They subsist on the scant vegetation of these regions--principally grasses and lichens--which they scrape up from under the snow, when the ground is covered. They hardly give one the impression of being very quick and agile, yet they ascend hills and climb over rocks and rough surfaces with great ease. They are reputed to be very irascible, and have frequently been known, when wounded, to attack a hunter and seriously endanger his life. The horns are very broad, covering the brow and crown of the head, and meeting at their base. Our bullets appeared to have no effect when fired at the head. From the bull we obtained no less than 385 lbs. of meat!