74 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH IApril 



from the dugout and he had killed four caribou! This 

 was certainly luck. If the other Eskimos found them as 

 plentiful, our dogs could go on for some time, although 

 caribou meat is lamentably lacking in strength and 

 stamina-producing properties. 



Going up the valley and ascending the highest ridge, 

 we scanned in vain the horizon for a cairn, and con- 

 tinued to do so for some eight hours, passing from 

 crest to crest. We examined every inch of the hori- 

 zon closely with powerful glasses, but failed to discover 

 the slightest appearance of land. Tired and disap- 

 pointed, we trudged back to camp, arriving late in the 

 evening, finding all our hunters in and all reporting no 

 success. 



My plans were quickly made. I would send Arklio 

 and Noo-ka-ping-wa back to Etah at once, limiting our 

 party to four only — E-took-a-shoo, Pee-a-wah-to, En- 

 sign Green, and myself — thus economizing on provisions 

 and enabling us to remain in the field for a much longer 

 period. The two boys, furnished with oil, tea, and bis- 

 cuit, by proceeding slowly, could easily depend upon 

 the country for meat. 



Upon failing to find Peary's cairn and record, we 

 reasoned that Cape Thomas Hubbard must be some 

 distance yet along the shore; and so it proved to be, 

 for as we swung out from land on to the Polar Sea we 

 commanded a good view of the whole coast, easily 

 recognizing the Point from a picture in Peary's Nearest 

 the Pole, The giving out and dropping of one of Green's 

 dogs on the first day caused me considerable anxiety. 

 If they were dropping now, where would they be a 

 week later? We lightened their loads at once to try 

 to save them, hoping they would gradually gain strength 



