1916] ALONE AT BORUP LODGE 269 



instructions by the summer of 1917, I would sledge 

 home by way of Ellesmere and Baffin Land and Hudson 

 Bay. 



Jot would have remained in a minute had I requested 

 it. I advised him by all means to take advantage of 

 this opportunity of reaching home. Once more I bade 

 them good-by, and watched the white dot disappear 

 beyond the outer islands. I was now alone with my 

 Eskimos for an indefinite period. It was with a very 

 strange feeling that I sat down in my room to listen 

 to the stillness which pervaded the big house, but 

 only for a moment. The happy laughter of an Eskimo 

 child immediately dispelled all thoughts of lost oppor- 

 tunities. I could not be homesick surrounded by such 

 people. And then again, the ship would come. It 

 was early yet, only August 18th. 



Preparations for home went on. Box after box was 

 nailed and marked. One hundred and sixty were now 

 ready. On August 23d the sun, which had been with 

 us for 124 days, swung below the northern horizon, the 

 first warning that winter was at hand. For the next 

 sixty-two days the sun would rise and set as at home, 

 and then would come the long sunless period of 118 

 days. On the night of the 25th the lamp was lighted, 

 a real event in our simple life at Etah. How cheerful 

 it looked in our smoke-begrimed room. Yes, the Arctic 

 night is welcome! 



By September 1st I had given up all hope of relief 

 and began to rush my preparations for the winter. The 

 back room was filled with wood, double windows were 

 put on, the shed roof was entirely renewed. All holes 

 in the house were patched, boat-loads of grass were ob- 

 tained, boxes were unpacked, skins packed away, and 



