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102 THE FUR COUNTRY, their strength is so great, that they have been known to overturn the whalers in pursuit of them. As the hunters drew near the sentinels took alarm, and raising their heads looked searchingly around them ; but before they could warn their companions of danger, Hobson and Kellet rushed upon them from one side, the Sergeant, Petersen, and Hope from the other, and after lodging a ball in each of their bodies, despatched them with their spears, whilst the rest of the herd plunged into the sea. The victory was an easy one ; the five victims were very large and their tusks, though slightly rough, of the best quality. They were chiefly valuable, however, on account of the oil ; of which — being in excellent condition — they would yield a large quantity. The bodies were packed in the sledges, and proved no light weight for the dogs. It was now one o'clock, and Mrs Barnett having joined them, the party set out on foot — the sledges being full — to return to the fort. There were but ten miles to be traversed, but ten miles in a straight line is a weary journey, proving the truth of the adage " It 's a long lane that has no turning." They beguiled the tediousness of the way by chatting pleasantly, and Mrs Barnett was ready to join in the conversation, or to listen with interest to the accounts the worthy soldiers gave of former adventures ; but in spite of the brave struggle against ennui they advanced but slowly, and the poor dogs found it hard work to drag the heavily-laden sledges over the rough ground. Had it been covered with frozen snow the distance would have been accomplished in a couple of hours. The merciful Lieutenant often ordered a halt to give the teams breathing-time, and the Sergeant remarked that it would be much more convenient for the inhabitants of the fort, if the morses would settle a little nearer Cape Bathurst. " They could not find a suitable spot," replied the Lieutenant, with a melancholy shake of the head. "Why not?" inquired Mrs Barnett with some surprise. " Because they only congregate where the slope of the beach is gradual enough to allow of their creeping up easily from the sea. Now Cape Bathurst rises abruptly, like a perpendicular wall, from water three hundred fathoms deep. It is probable that ages ago a portion of the continent was rent away in some violent volcanic convulsion, and flung into the Arctic Ocean. Hence the absence of morses on the beach of our cape."