198 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Sept. 



tunity. At four in the afternoon of the 24th the rain 

 ceased and the clouds rolled away, revealing blue 

 patches of sky — every promise of a good, starlit night. 

 With a good-by to Jot and the Eskimos, who looked a 

 bit astonished, I was off with only my sleeping-bag and 

 a haK-dozen crackers. 



For rowing in the Arctic one should have bow-facing 

 oars or an eye in the back of his head. Two collisions 

 with bergs during the night, ending with head in the 

 bottom of the boat and feet sticking up, were sound 

 and convincing arguments that the structure of the 

 human body might be improved upon. 



At Peteravik a herd of walrus arose to the surface as 

 the dark form of the boat passed over then' supper- 

 table. Not quite understanding the nature of the 

 stranger, they followed slowly and critically for some 

 distance. 



Before I reached Sulwuddy it was dark. A few miles 

 beyond I was startled by a tremendous beating of the 

 water right under the bows of my boat. "Walrus! 

 fish! whale! what in the world!" I exclaimed in suc- 

 cession. And then I could discern in the semi-darkness 

 through the flying spray the hurrying, scurrying black 

 forms of young eider ducks! They were not yet able 

 to fly, but with the rapid beat of their strengthening 

 wings they could skim the surface surprisingly well. 

 Within a few weeks they would be off on their 2,000- 

 mile journey to their winter home off the coasts of 

 Maine and Massachusetts. 



WTien nests are robbed repeatedly and the young are 

 hatched in consequence late in August, the mothers 

 often fly off to the south, leaving their young to struggle 

 for an existence against cold and wind and ice. The 



