218 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Feb. 



ward over the sea ice almost to the water's edge, when 

 repeated warning cries from the Eskimos revealed the 

 startling fact that I was adrift on a large sheet of ice. 

 The telltale crack had caught the sharp eyes of the 

 natives, while the unsuspecting and inexperienced white 

 man had driven straight on into danger. 



Around we whirled and back we went into the face 

 of the rising wind, but, oh, how slowly! What was the 

 matter with my dogs ! The crack was steadily widening, 

 but as yet not too wide for the leap. As I looked back 

 at the white patches drifting to leeward into the heavy 

 vapor arising from a white-capped sea, I knew that 

 life out there would be a matter of only a few hours. 

 To swim would have been the only recourse and the 

 fatal result almost certain. 



A survey from the summit of the hill below Port 

 Foulke revealed open water at Cape Kendrick to the 

 south. Heavy wind on the ice-cap, as evidenced by 

 the smoky appearance above the rounded dome, com- 

 pelled us to abandon our trip and return to Etah. 



A few hours after our arrival, to our astonishment 

 old Ak-kom-mo-ding-wa and his wife, Inah-loo, were 

 seen driving across the harbor from the south, causing 

 the Eskimos to remark laughingly that they must have 

 come by ship. They confirmed our fears of open water, 

 having followed the ice-foot for days on their way north- 

 ward, and at last reaching home by encircling the 

 Crystal Palace Cliffs and Cape Kendrick at the edge of 

 the glacier, returning to the sea ice by way of the Sonn- 

 tag Pass. 



A few days later a repeated "Ah-ch6ok, ah-ch6ok, 

 ah-ch6ok," coming from the darkness well out in the 

 fiord, was followed by the appearance of two sledges 



