254 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 



Just before closing our door, Noo-ka-ping-wa placed 

 his rifle against the entrance, ready for a visitor. At 

 four-thirty he or she arrived, the approach being her- 

 alded by a commotion among our dogs. Noo-ka-ping- 

 wa slipped out of his sleeping-bag and ducked through 

 the door, having on only a pair of drawers and socks. 

 As he did so, the whole arch dropped on his bare back. 

 At twenty below zero, this accelerated rather than re- 

 tarded his scramble for his rifle. It afforded me, how- 

 ever, some amusement, and dropped the curtain for a 

 good view of the scene of action. He squatted in the 

 snow and pulled his automatic three times, leading me 

 to believe that the bear was on the move. But this 

 fear was immediately dispelled by his turning to me 

 and yelling, "He's dead!" After he had come into the 

 igloo I inquired why he had shot so many times, to 

 which he replied: "We were both undressed. It was 

 blowing and drifting, and I was afraid he would get 

 away. So I thought I had better smash him all up." 



On the 29th we arrived at a point on the southern 

 shore of the island a short distance from Table and 

 Exmouth Islands, passing along the shore between a 

 newly discovered island and the mainland. The new 

 island is but a half-mile distant, about two miles long 

 and one-half mile wide. 



Here on the southern shore, upon the summit of a 

 hill one mile distant, I built a cairn and deposited a 

 record. 



Sunday, April 30th, was the fairest of days, enabling 

 me to get ten good sights — for longitude, latitude, and 

 azimuth. For the first time the thermometer registered 

 above zero, being +8° F. 



My dogs were in excellent condition, covering the 



