NINDEMANN AND NOROS. 817 



however, which he gave them, and then held up three 

 or four fingers to tell them apparently that in three or 

 four hours or three or four days, they knew not which, 

 he would return. He took the shirt which Nindemann 

 had offered him, drove off along the river to the west- 

 ward, and was soon out of sight. 



Nindemann and Noros looked at each other, when 

 he had disappeared, and began to question if they had 

 done wisely in letting him go off. Nindemann feared 

 he had scared him with his rifle, and that he would 

 not come back, but Noros was confident that he was a 

 good Christian and would return. Nindemann finally 

 said that they would wait four days for his return, and 

 then, if he did not appear, they would keep on to the 

 southward. They were too weak to think of a march 

 now. They were too weak indeed to go down the 

 river bank after drift-wood, and so they collected the 

 sleds which they found, the berths in the huts, and any 

 loose wood, and dragged these to their fire. 



About six o'clock in the evening, as the}- were boil- 

 ing some of their moldy fish, they heard a noise with- 

 out, the door opened, and their visitor, with two other 

 men, came into the hut. After a vain attempt at mak- 

 ing each other understand anything, one of the men 

 went out, brought in a frozen fish which he skinned 

 and sliced; while the sailors were eating it — the first 

 real food which they had touched for many a day — 

 the natives made signs for them to go with them. 

 They brought in some deer-skin coats and boots for 

 them, gathered what was in the hut, and then put- 

 ting the men into reindeer sleighs drove off with them 

 along the river to the westward. The way led into 

 the mountains, and they kept on their drive for about 

 fifteen miles, when they came to a ravine where were 



