THE SITUATION. 269 



year ; but while I had no hesitation in setting out 

 with dog-sledges at that period, the recollection of 

 Dr. Kane's disasters was too fresh in my mind to 

 justify me in sending out a foot party in the March 

 temperatures. 



While waiting for the frost to build a bridge for me 

 around Sunrise Point, I was feeding up and strength- 

 ening my dogs. They soon proved to be very infe- 

 rior to the animals which I had lost, and it was neces- 

 sary to give them as much rest and good rations as 

 possible. I went repeatedly to Chester Valley in pur- 

 suit of reindeer. Along the borders of the lake these 

 beasts had flocked in great numbers during the win- 

 ter, and whole acres of snow had been tossed up with 

 tlieir hoofs, while searching for the dead vegetation 

 of the previous summer. The rabbits and the ptar- 

 migan had followed them, to gather the buds of the 

 willow-stems which were occasionally tossed up, and 

 which form their subsistence. During one of my 

 journeys I secured a fine specimen skin of a doe, but 

 in order to do this I was oblig;ed to take it off with 

 my own hands before it should freeze. The tempera- 

 ture at the time was 33° below zero, and I do not ever 

 remember to have had my regard for Natural History 

 .so severely tested. 



I was exceedingly anxious to recover the body of 

 Mr. Sonntag before I left the vessel ; and, desiring to 

 secure the assistance of Kalutunah for that purpose, I 

 drove over to Etah a few days after he had become 

 fixed there. I had eleven of my new dogs harnessed 

 to the sledge, and Jensen " was himself again." 



I found Kalutunah very comfortably fixed and appa- 

 rently well contented. I carried with me as a present 

 tor a house-warming a quarter of a recently -captured 



