NORTH POLE OF THE WINDS 



place and the route followed as well as he could, 

 and they planned to leave the next morning expect- 

 ing to be gone about three weeks. But the next 

 morning Marius was down with grippe, doubtless 

 from germs brought in from the coast by the Es- 

 kimo crew, and so the trip had to be given up for 

 the present. 



We were anxious to get away on the tide in 

 order to leave before nightfall and with some dif- 

 ficulty we were able to do so. Enok and Peter, 

 two of our Eskimo helpers who have been unable 

 to do packing for some time, go back with us. 

 Marius and Nathaniel remain behind to pack the 

 winter supply of coal which has just come in on 

 the Nakuak. They will go out when the other 

 winter supplies arrive from the Disko. 



The tiny cabin of the Nakuak in which we cooked 

 and ate our meals has benches on either side of a 

 central folding table, and on these narrow benches 

 Cramer, Belknap and I managed to wedge in our 

 sleeping bags. Hassell and Etes stretched theirs 

 out on the cargo in the hold, while Potter and 

 Stewart found places for themselves on the deck. 

 Our Eskimos joined their friends of the crew in 

 the tiny forecastle where they curled up together 

 like dogs and slept comfortably. 



The skipper is in control of the ship and we 



286 



