1914] IN SEARCH OF CROCKER LAND 53 



tea. Fortified with this beverage, along with pemmi- 

 can and biscuit, we were soon asleep with our backs 

 against the sledges. 



As we were crossing Alexandra Fiord we received our 

 first premonition of trouble. We passed two dead dogs 

 on the trail, far too early in our undertaking for such 

 an occurrence. A few hours later, in a jog in the ice- 

 foot, we came upon two boxes of biscuit, a pair of snow- 

 shoes, and a note from Doctor Hunt stating that he had 

 slept there three nights with a sick Eskimo and was 

 leaving that morning. There was still no snow for a 

 snow house, so we endeavored to heat up a few cubic 

 feet of air-space by building a fire out of our biscuit- 

 boxes. Placing our sleeping-bags on the snow near the 

 fire, we crawled in for what we thought would be a 

 good night's sleep. A few hours later I awoke choking 

 for breath, and discovered, to my astonishment, that 

 my bag and sheepskin shirt were blazing merrily. I 

 was warm at last! 



A few hours' traveling in the morning brought us in 

 sight of the doctor and his Eskimo, whose face was 

 badly swollen with the mumps. Although he was unable 

 to walk, he was game and wanted to go on. As this 

 Eskimo was one of my best men, I relieved him of a 

 large part of his load and ordered him to stick to the 

 sledge until he felt better. Within an hour we came up 

 with the whole party encamped in snow igloos in the 

 middle of Hayes Sound. Some had influenza, some 

 had the mumps, and some had cold feet literally and 

 figuratively; nearly all refused to go on, stating that the 

 dogs were weak, unable to pull an ordinary load, and 

 would probably all die on the big glacier of Ellesmere 

 Land, over which we had to cross in order to reach the 



