454 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



commenced. We pushed on in spite of the wind and the 

 drifting snow and sand. That night we could not find any 

 shelter on the banks, and so we dug a hole in the drift for a 

 shelter. This took us three or four hours to do, as we had 

 nothing to work with except our hands and sheath knives; 

 but at last we managed to dig a hole large enough for the 

 two of us to creep into. After we had got in the hole the 

 wind drifted the snow upon us and soon filled the entrance 

 of our little place, and next morning we had to work a long 

 time before we could get out of the drift again. We got up 

 and started out ; we did not use any of our alcohol to speak 

 of we were saving it up as much as we could." 



On the llth, toward night, after a hard day's tramp, thej 

 came to a small hut on the bank, and passed the night in it. 

 It had a raised fire-place in the center, and they started a 

 fire and kept it going by burning up the benches built around 

 the room. 



"We hated, says Noros, to leave the first shelter we 

 had found since leaving the captain, but we went down to 

 the river and started on. We had to face the wind from 

 the southward, and we could hardly make any progress 

 against it. We would have to stop once in a little while, 

 unable to move a step further. We began to give it up in 

 despair. At times we felt like going back to the hut, to 

 wait there until death relieved us from our sufferings." 



They walked slowly on, and after a while saw some moun- 

 tains ahead, and they thought they saw a hut close by, but 

 were not quite sure. There was water between them and 

 the hut, and this they had to wade through up to their 

 knees. They got across, and then found it was really a 

 shelter-place, a little tent-like hut, built of sticks, and plas- 

 tered outside with mud to keep out the wind. It was Mot 

 Vai. Noros thought Nindermann had followed him, but 

 instead of that he had gone a mile further off, and had 

 found another hut. There they saw two crosses, which 

 marked the graves of natives. They stayed here a day and 

 a half, and ate some refuse eelskins and fish heads which 





