th their cries, softened its grimness. Farther
along the shore-ledges Kit presently espied a black animal of some
kind, and called our attention to it.

"He seems to be eating something there," said he.

We looked at it.

"It's not an Esquimau dog, is it?" Wade asked.

"Oh, no! head don't look like a dog's," observed Kit. "Besides, their
dogs are not so dark-colored as that."

"This seems from here to be almost or quite black," Raed remarked; "as
black as Guard. Not quite so large, though."

Wade thought it was fully as large.

"If we were in Maine, I should say it was a small black bear," said
Kit; "but I have never heard of a black bear being seen north of
Hudson Straits."

The head seemed to me to be too small for a bear.

"Captain, what do you think of that animal?" Kit asked, handing him
his glass.

Capt. Mazard looked.

"If it hadn't such short legs, I should pronounce it a black wolf," he
replied. "It's too large for a _fisher_, isn't it? I don't know that
_fishers_ are found so far north, either. How is that?"

"Hearne, in his 'Northern Journey,' speaks of the fisher being met
with, farther west, in latitude as far north as this," said I.

"But that's too big for a fisher," said Raed; "too thick and heavy. A
fisher is slimmer."

"Who knows but it may be a new species!" exclaimed Kit, laughing.
"Now's a chance to distinguish ourselves as naturalists. If we can
discover a new animal of that size in this age of natural history, and
prove that we are the discoverers, it will be monument enough for us:
we can then afford to retire on our laurels. Call it a long Latin
name, and tack our own names, with the ending _ii_ or _us_ on them, to
that, and you're all right for distant posterity. That's what some of
our enterprising young naturalists, who swarm out from Yale and
Cambridge, seem to think. Only a few weeks ago, I was reading of a new
sort of minute infusorial insect or mollusk, I don't pretend to
understand which, bearing the name of '_Mussa Braziliensis Hartii
Verrill_.' Now, I like that. There's a noble aspiration for fame as
well as euphony. Only it's a little heavy on the poor mollusk to make
him draw these aspiring young gentlemen up the steep heights of
ambition. But if they can afford to risk two names on a tiny bit of
jelly as big as the head of a pin, say, I think we should be justified
in putting all four of ours on to this big beast over here. And, since
the captain thinks it's like