152 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 



pounds of meat disappeared, to be lost beneath the 



surface. 



In the mean time Tung-we and I were following the 

 moving mass of drift ice slowly along the edge of the 

 unbroken field, very much concerned over the safety of 

 the other two men. Gradually, the intervening black 

 strip of water widened, cutting off their escape. To the 

 south an iceberg, against the outer edge of which the 

 moving field was crushing and grinding, might serve as 

 a bridge. Running to the summit, we signaled the 

 men to make their way to this point, which they reached 

 after several narrow escapes, dripping with perspiration, 

 both breaking through and filling their boots on the very 



last step. 



Within a few minutes after landing, a herd of ten 

 walrus appeared on the surface, sixty yards away. In- 

 stantly we all crouched and uttered the far-reaching, 

 guttural cry with hands to mouth. "They are coming!" 

 whispered Tung-we, grasping firmly harpoon and coil, 

 and planting bis feet solidly in the slippery ice. Run- 

 ning backward to embrace the whole scene in the finder 

 of my graflex camera, I awaited the climax. The action 

 began with a swirl, followed by a mass of grim, ugly 

 faces at the very feet of the hunters— so near, in fact, 

 that the men, astounded, were caught unawares, de- 

 layed action for a few seconds, and then excitedly hurled 

 their harpoons. The harpoon of Tung-we plunged over 

 their heads and backs; that of Mene stopped suddenly 

 in mid-air and fell harmlessly flat down. Tung-we, dis- 

 gusted and ashamed, expressed himself as befitting the 

 occasion. Mene grinned sheepishly upon discovering 

 that he was standing upon a flake of his coil. 



Hungry and sleepy, we reached land on the night of 



