The pemmican was cooked remarkably quickly that evening, and I believe I was unusually industrious in stirring it.  There went the first shot —­ I am not a nervous man, but I must admit that I gave a start.  Shot now followed upon shot —­ they had an uncanny sound over the great plain.  A trusty servant lost his life each time.  It was long before the first man reported that he had finished; they were all to open their dogs, and take out the entrails to prevent the meat being contaminated.  The entrails were for the most part devoured warm on the spot by the victims’ comrades, so voracious were they all.  Suggen, one of Wisting’s dogs, was especially eager for warm entrails; after enjoying this luxury, he could be seen staggering about in a quite misshapen condition.  Many of the dogs would not touch them at first, but their appetite came after a while.

The holiday humour that ought to have prevailed in the tent that evening —­ our first on the plateau —­ did not make its appearance; there was depression and sadness in the air —­ we had grown so fond of our dogs.  The place was named the “Butcher’s Shop.”  It had been arranged that we should stop here two days to rest and eat dog.  There was more than one among us who at first would not hear of taking any part in this feast; but as time went by, and appetites became sharper, this view underwent a change, until, during the last few days before reaching the Butcher’s Shop, we all thought and talked of nothing but dog cutlets, dog steaks, and the like.  But on this first evening we put a restraint on ourselves; we thought we could not fall upon our four-footed friends and devour them before they had had time to grow cold.

We quickly found out that the Butcher’s Shop was not a hospitable locality.  During the night the temperature sank, and violent gusts of wind swept over the plain; they shook and tore at the tent, but it would take more than that to get a hold of it.  The dogs spent the night in eating; we could hear the crunching and grinding of their teeth whenever we were awake for a moment.  The effect of the great and sudden change of altitude made itself felt at once; when I wanted to turn round in my bag, I had to do it a bit at a time, so as not to get out of breath.  That my comrades were affected in the same way, I knew without asking them; my ears told me enough.

It was calm when we turned out, but the weather did not look altogether promising; it was overcast and threatening.  We occupied the forenoon in flaying a number of dogs.  As I have said, all the survivors were not yet in a mood for dog’s flesh, and it therefore had to be served in the most enticing form.  When flayed and cut up, it went down readily all along the line; even the most fastidious then overcame their scruples.  But with the skin on we should not have been able to persuade them all to eat that morning; probably this distaste was due to the smell clinging to the skins, and I must admit that it was not appetizing.