1916] BACK ACROSS ELLESMERE LAND 257 



much of their brightness by thawing into dark pools of 

 water which are restful to the eyes. 



On the 6th we faced a cold wind for eleven hours and 

 a half, with fifty miles to our credit. As I watched 

 those little legs reeling off mile after mile, my thoughts 

 went back to that bright moonlight night in January, 

 1915 — not a breath of wind and the ice as hard and 

 smooth as a floor — when they trotted their full hundred ! 

 Only one dropped; the others finished with tails tightly 

 curled, rubbed their heads against my legs, placed their 

 paws against my breast, and wanted to be told that 

 they had done their work and done it well. Magnificent 

 animals! Faithful to the end of the long trail! How I 

 miss them! 



Another sign of spring at this camp, although only 

 eight above zero — a live caterpillar! We take our tent 

 out of a cache and pitch it for the first time on the trip. 

 The joy of living in a tent after a season of snow houses ! 



Driving up Bay Fiord the next day, we found the hills 

 fairly crawling with Arctic hare. With every hour the 

 temptation to pot a few for supper grew stronger, until 

 it could be resisted no longer. My, but hare meat is 

 good! At the head of the fiord a large pile of meat as- 

 sured us that our dogs would be in excellent condition 

 for their climb over the glacier of Ellesmere Land. A 

 day of rest here, on which the Eskimos played their 

 first game of whist. The ladies of Etah this winter are 

 possibly playing bridge. 



Our first mile in two hours on the 10th was not at 

 the rate of modern travel. The day is not far distant 

 when the Demon of the North, so jealous of its secrets, 

 will be robbed of one of his best weapons of defense — 

 deep snows. The aeronaut may well laugh when he 



