FURTHER EXPERIENCES OF DR. HAYES 393 



another hole. Selecting a spot which the wind had swept clear, I set dili- 

 gently to work at cutting the crystal sheet with the dull chisel. This, luckily, 

 had been placed upright by the last visitor, or I should probably not have 

 found it. The ice was perfectly transparent, and I could see every stone 

 and pebble on the bottom, shining very brightly, and seeming to nestle there 

 in warmth and quiet, — strikingly in contrast with the confusion and cold 

 which reigned above. The operation of cutting this hole was a most tedious 

 one, and it must have occupied me at least three-quarters of an hour; but at 

 length the iron bar plunged through; and upon withdrawing it a crystal 

 fountain gurgled out into the frost. My kettle was soon filled, and I set out 

 to return. 



**My tracks were covered over, and again I was obliged to steer by the 

 wind. T was getting on very well, having now the storm partially on my 

 back: but my good fortune forsook me when I had reached about half-way. 

 In the act of climbing over a rock, in order to shorten the distance, I missed 

 my footing, and fell upon my face. The kettle slipped from my grasp, and, 

 spilling its precious contents, went flying across the plain. With a philosoph- 

 ical resignation which I had the modesty afterwards to think quite commend- 

 able, in the circumstances, I followed the retreating pot, and, overtaking 

 it at length where it had brought up against an elevation, I returned to the 

 lake and refilled. This time I was more careful, and I reached the camp 

 without further accident, except that I came upon the sea some distance 

 above the hut; thus considerably increasing the length of my walk; and that, 

 too, in the very teeth of the storm. 



"A party of the Eskimos came upon the hut one day, together with a 

 drove of hungry dogs. 



"The dogs were fastened by their long traces; each team being tied to a 

 separate stake. They were howling piteously. Having been exposed to all 

 the fury of the storm, with no ability to run about, they had grown cold ; and 

 as their masters told us, having had nothing to eat during thirty-six hours, 

 they must have been savagely hungry. One of them had already eaten his 

 trace; but we came out, fortunately, at the proper moment to prevent an 

 attack upon the sledges. 



"Leaving the hunters to look after their teams, I returned to the hut. 

 The blinding snow which battered my face, made me insensible to everything 

 except the idea of getting out of it ; and thinking of no danger, I was in the 

 act of stooping to enter the doorway, when a sudden noise behind me caused 



