THE EXPLORER'S RETURN 73 



much hunger during this period. One night a bear came and stole our food. 

 We had many fights with musk oxen, which attacked us. Our best weapon 

 against them was the lasso. 



"Two or three days we had nothing to eat. Then, in a crevice of the 

 ice, we caught sight of several walruses. I had only a few cartridges left, 

 I crept along the ice on my stomach, approaching the animals slowly, so as 

 not to scare them. I expended all my cartridges and as a result secured two 

 of the walruses. Our lives were saved." 



It was after describing these hardships that the haggard traveler, his hair 

 matted and long and his eyes hollow with suffering, cried, in a burst of joy 

 at beholding the faces of white men once more : 



"I am the happiest man alive. Tell the whole world I thank God I am 

 back." 



"Rumors about our insufficient equipment were all false," said he. "No 

 expense had been spared to provide an expedition for every contingency. To 

 show you we prepared for every emergency, let me explain but one phase of 

 our equipment. When the yacht was loaded all were promised a delightful 

 cruise, with study and recreation. 



"When we arrived at Smith's Sound, the limits of navigation and the 

 limits of man's habitation, it was found that many of the best families had 

 gathered at Anvolok for the winter bear hunt. This summer chase had been 

 very successful. Great catches of meat had been gathered; more than one 

 hundred dogs voiced the Eskimo prosperity. With abundant supplies taken 

 aboard there, we had the nucleus for a polar expedition. 



"Tins were secured and everything was prepared against humidity. Boxes, 

 which later made excellent building material, were taken along. With these 

 boxes we built a house and at the end of the first day we slept under our 

 own roof comfortably sheltered from the storm. 



"Now I cannot give you but a general outline of our journey. We had 

 many days and weeks of suffering. The outcome of the venture seems to 

 be sufficient reward for the expended energy. The art of Arctic sledging 

 has been advanced; a new highway with an interesting strip of animated 

 nature has been examined. Big game haunts have been located which will 

 extend the Eskimo horizon and delight the sportsman. * 



"The boreal center has been pierced, new land has been discovered, and 

 if we allow a horizon about fifteen miles to each side of our course a triangle 

 of about thirty thousand square miles has been cut out of the Arctic blank. 



