MUSK-OXEN AT LAST 155 



we saw a herd of five. It was nearly dark now, the 

 arctic twilight being so dense that we could simply 

 make out five dark spots. We waited for a moment 

 to catch our breath, then I motioned to Ooblooyah 

 to bring two of the dogs, leaving Koolatoonah with 

 the others at the sledges. Notwithstanding the uncer- 

 tain light, we made short work of this herd. 



Again I pitched the tent and prepared supper, 

 while my brown friends paid their final respects to 

 the musk-oxen on the bluff. It is necessary to evis- 

 cerate these animals as soon as they are killed, 

 otherwise the excessive heat of the great shaggy bodies 

 will cause the meat to become tainted. When the 

 three Eskimos came down to the tent the darkness 

 was already upon us — a promise of the long black 

 night to come. 



The next day we completed the circuit of the west- 

 ern shore of the Inlet, then started on a bee line for 

 Sail Harbor, making this a forced march. At Sail 

 Harbor we found a note from Bartlett, showing that 

 he had passed there the previous day on his way back 

 from Cape Columbia to the ship. 



There we camped again; and in the morning, 

 while the men were breaking camp and lashing up 

 the sledges, I started with the very first rays of 

 the morning light across the peninsula towards James 

 Ross Bay. As I crested the divide, I saw — down on 

 the shore of the Bay — a group of dark spots which 

 were clearly recognized as a camp; and a little later 

 I sang out to the party, which comprised the divisions 

 of Bartlett, Goodsell, and Borup. 



By the time the sleepy-eyed, stiff figures of the 



