344 PROCEEDINGS OF TflE ACADEMY OF [1892. 



having successfully carried out all my instructions. The coiistruc- 

 .tion of a winter stone wall about the house was then commenced, the 

 work on this being varied by seal, deer and walrus hunts, and 

 reconnoissauces of the neighboring ice caps by Astrup, on his ski. 



Between September 7tli and 30th two attempts were made, first 

 by Astrup, Gibson and Verhoeff, then by Astrup and Gibson, to 

 carry out my plan of establishing an autumn advance depot of 

 supplies across Prudhoe Land at the southeast angle of the Hum- 

 boldt glacier. In the last attempt, the men penetrated an estimated 

 distance of thirty miles, when they were stopped by the condition of 

 the snow. During their absence, I was moving about in the boat, 

 most of the time gathering in deer. Matt, and my native hunter 

 Ikwa, bagging fifteen. After the return of the men from the inland 

 ice, a hunting party was kept almost continually in the field until 

 the middle of November, when the score amounted to thirty-one. 



The land had long since been shrouded with snow, and the Bay 

 frozen over. The long winter night Avas now upon us, the sun 

 having disappeared on the 26th of October ; we settled down in 

 comfort and security, with a well stocked larder, to pass lightly 

 through it. Constant occupation, first in the little fittings about 

 home, then in the construction of ski and sledges, varied by daily 

 exercise, the visits of the natives, and the pleasant breaks of Thanks- 

 giving and the Christmas holidays, congenial companionship and the 

 best of food, carried us quickly through the somber darkness. Never 

 was there a happier Arctic family than ours ; the first sound to greet 

 my ears from the boys' apartment in the morning was a laugh, and 

 a laugh was the last thing 1 heard at night. 



The return of the sun about the middle of February was marked 

 by a storm of hurricane intensity. The thermometer rose to plus 41° 

 F; rain fell in torrents, partially flooding RedcliflTe, and even up on the 

 ice cap, 2,600 feet above the sea level, where Dr. Cook, Astrup and 

 myself had gone to greet the sun, rain fell for several hours. Early 

 in March hunting parties were again sent out, and added ten more 

 deer to our stock. Just after this, nearly all of my party and 

 several of the natives then gathered about the house, were attacked 

 by the grippe. April 18th, I started with Mrs. Peary, Gibson and 

 my native driver for a round of calls among my Eskimo neighbors, 

 and a tour of the unexplored recesses of Inglefield Gulf From the 

 settlement on Northumberland Island, Gibson returned to Redcliffe 



