156 FOUR YEARS IN THE WRITE NORTH [May 



ing and prosperous village. Facing to the southwest 

 and protected by high hills from the cold northerly 

 winds, it offers a delightful spot for a settlement, for 

 in summer the grass must be long and green, the air 

 warm and sunny, and the waters teeming with life. 



We reached Borup Lodge on the 28th of April, and 

 learned that Arklio and Noo-ka-ping-wa, Ekblaw's first 

 supporting party, had returned, each having killed a 

 bear and many musk-oxen. Letters from Ekblaw in- 

 formed us that all was well thus far and that they were 

 proceeding north through Eureka Sound. The three 

 sledge tracks which we noticed on our return as go- 

 ing north proved to be those of Mene, Kai-6-ta, and 

 I-o-pung-ya on their way across Smith Sound to the 

 hunting-grounds of Ellesmere Land. 



On Monday, May 3d, Allen, Tanquary, and Green 

 began counting the days before the ship would arrive, 

 sure indication of a longing for the homeland. "Ninety- 

 one more!" was the count on that day, but the ninety- 

 one doubled and trebled many times before they reached 

 home. 



On Friday, May 7th, Arklio, Ah-now-ka, and I were 

 off again into the north for bears and a visit to Rens- 

 selaer Harbor, Kane's winter quarters of 1853-55. Re- 

 membering the assertion in Doctor Kane's book that the 

 distance from Etah to Rensselaer Harbor is ninety 

 miles, I could scarcely credit Arklio's statement at the 

 end of our second day's march at Bancroft Bay, that in 

 the morning we had passed "the bay where many years 

 ago the white men lived in a ship frozen in the ice. 

 He went on to say that "here she remained for some 

 time, following the going away of the white men to 

 the south in two small boats; and that the Eskimos 



