268 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 



water exactly like a white whale, which, in fact, some 

 of the natives at first thought it was. We could 

 clearly see that he propelled himseK with all four legs, 

 a fact contrary to what has been recorded by other ob- 

 servers. 



By surrounding him with kayaks, it was possible for 

 us to drive him in any desired direction, even into the 

 front door of our house, had we wished it. A mental 

 picture of Jot going out the back door was a strong 

 temptation for us to act upon the thought. A small 

 berg, however, offered a better setting for such a noble 

 animal. There, drawn up in a dignified manner, with 

 his white body outlined against the black hills, he 

 looked every inch of what he is, the king of the North. 



A cry of "Boat coming!" on August 17th aroused me 

 from a sound sleep. The expected big ship with a trail 

 of black smoke dwindled to a white power-boat with an 

 intermittent cough. Doctor Hovey had arrived again. 

 With him were Captain Comer, Freuchen, and two 

 Eskimos. For various reasons. Doctor Hovey, Captain 

 Comer, Doctor Hunt, and Mr. Ekblaw had refused to 

 embark on the Cluett when she sailed for home on the 

 29th of July. They were positive that another ship 

 would be sent by the American Museum and preferred 

 to await its arrival. Now, considerably worried over 

 its non-appearance, they had come to Etah to inform 

 me that it was their intention, if the ship had not ar- 

 rived by August 20th, to proceed south across Melville 

 Bay to Upernavik in the boat. Again there was only 

 one decision for me to make — remain with the collec- 

 tions and the equipment until a ship arrived at Etah, 

 or until I received definite orders from the American 

 Museum to abandon everything. If I did not receive 



