and as cheerful as ever until his breakfast was given him; then he
began to cry and tear round, yelping and barking as if distracted,
just as the others had done. After this convulsions set in, and the
froth poured from his mouth. One of these convulsions no doubt carried
him off. Blessing and I held a post mortem upon him in the afternoon,
but we could discover no signs of anything unusual. It does not seem
to be an infectious ailment. I cannot understand it.

"'Ulenka,' too, the handsomest dog in the whole pack, our consolation
and our hope, suddenly became ill the other day. It was the morning
of May 24th that we found it paralyzed and quite helpless, lying
in its cask on deck. It kept trying to get up, but couldn't, and
immediately fell down again--just like a man who has had a stroke
and has lost all power over his limbs. It was at once put to bed in
a box and nursed most carefully; except for being unable to walk,
it is apparently quite well." It must have been a kind of apoplectic
seizure that attacked the spinal cord in some spot or other, and
paralyzed one side of the body. The dog recovered slowly, but never
got the complete use of its legs again. It accompanied us, however,
on our subsequent sledge expedition.

The dogs did not seem to like the summer, it was so wet on the ice,
and so warm. On June 11th I write: "To-day the pools on the ice all
round us have increased wonderfully in size, and it is by no means
agreeable to go off the ship with shoes that are not water-tight; it
is wetter and wetter for the dogs in the daytime, and they sweat more
and more from the heat, though it as yet only rarely rises above zero
(C.). A few days ago they were shifted on to the ice, where two long
kennels were set up for them." [49] They were made out of boxes, and
really consist of only a wall and a roof. Here they spend the greater
part of the twenty-four hours, and we are now rid of all uncleanliness
on board, except for the four puppies which still remain, and lead a
glorious life of it up there between sleep and play. "Ulenka" is still
on deck, and is slowly recovering. There is the same daily routine
for the dogs as in the winter. We let them loose in the morning about
half-past eight, and as the time for their release draws near they
begin to get very impatient. Every time any one shows himself on deck
a wild chorus of howls issues from twenty-six throats, clamoring for
food and freedom.

After being let loose t