was served all around in honor of
the midnight sun and the capture of fresh meat. We dressed the ox and
bear, giving the offal as well as the wolf to the dogs, and revelled
for the next few days in the luxury of fresh meat.

The island not being marked on our charts, we took credit to ourselves
as its discoverers, and took possession of the same in the name of the
United States.

The captain proposed to the sailors to call it Lexington Island in
honor of their commander, and the men replied to his proposition with
such a rousing cheer that I felt obliged to accept the distinction.

Flathootly reported that there was a drove of musk oxen on the island,
and before finally leaving it we organized a grand hunting expedition
for the benefit of all concerned.

Leaving but five men, including the first officer and engineer, on
board to take care of the ship, I took charge of the hunt. After a
rough-and-tumble scramble over the chaotic ice-foot, we reached the
mainland in good shape, save that a dog broke its leg in the ice and
had to be shot. Its companions very feelingly gave it a decent burial
in their stomachs.

Mounting an ice-covered hillock, we saw, two miles to the southeast in
a valley where grass and moss were visible, half a dozen musk oxen,
doubtless the entire herd. We adopted the plan of surrounding the
herd, drawing as near the animals as possible without alarming them.
Sniffing danger in the southeasterly wind, the herd broke away to the
northwest. The sailors jumped up and yelled, making the animals swerve
to the north. A semi-circle of rifles was discharged at the unhappy
brutes. Two fell dead in their tracks and the remaining four, badly
wounded, wheeled and made off in the opposite direction. The other
wing of the sailors now had their innings as we fell flat and heard
bullets fly over us. Three more animals fell, mortally wounded. A bull
calf, the only remnant of the herd on its legs, looked in wonder at
the sailor who despatched it with his revolver. The dogs held high
carnival for an hour or more on the slaughtered oxen. We packed the
sledges with a carcass on each, and in due time regained the ship,
pleased with our day's work.

[Illustration: A SEMICIRCLE OF RIFLES WAS DISCHARGED AT THE UNHAPPY
BRUTES, AND TWO FELL DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS.]

Leaving Lexington Island we steered almost due north through a vast
open pack. On the 1st of May we arrived in lat. 78' 30" west long.
155' 50", our course ha