THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 327 



horizon to the eastward in connection with taking the bearings 

 of the scattered reefs and islands. I next turned to the north 

 where undiscovered land seemed most likely to lie. Nothing could 

 be seen on the horizon, but our camp was in the line of vision and 

 I noted what was going on. 



The tent was up — we had long since ceased using snowhouses 

 on account of the mild weather — and the dogs had been tied. 

 Thomsen was feeding them. Ole was not in sight and must be in 

 the tent cooking. This meant that he had decided to use up our 

 last kerosene. One evening many weeks before we had discovered 

 only a remaining quart or so of kerosene and it had been decided 

 to save this for an emergency when bad weather made it more com- 

 fortable to cook within doors. Kerosene has the great advantage 

 over seal oil that when one has the ordinary commercial stove it 

 produces no smoke, while the highest art is required to burn seal 

 oil without smoke. But a day or two ago somebody had noticed 

 that half the cherished kerosene had been spilled, as the container 

 was not quite tight at the top. This meant not only loss of fuel 

 but worse, for any oil that was spilling was getting into our cloth- 

 ing and into other things we were hauling. Trying to save it was 

 less a convenience than a nuisance. 



Presently I moved the glasses one field to the west and noted 

 that Storkerson was climbing an ice hummock. Evidently I could 

 borrow his eyes by watching him, for he had the advantage of me 

 by five miles of northing and would be able to see things that lay 

 below my horizon. If there were anything of note I should be 

 able to tell it from his actions. It is easy to say now and I can 

 almost make myself believe that I had a premonition of what he 

 was going to see. Still I know that such was not really the case. 

 I had often before watched my companions from a distance as I 

 was doing now to form an opinion of what they were seeing. 



Storkerson sat down on the top of the hummock, took his glasses 

 from their case and spent several minutes in wiping every lens of 

 them with our unfailing piece of clean flannel, then raised his elbows 

 on his knees in the ordinary way and turned his glasses to the north. 

 Evidently he saw nothing in the first field nor in the second or 

 third, for during the next four or five minutes he moved the glasses 

 farther and farther east until he was facing northeast. Instead 

 of examining this field as he had done the others he swung the 

 glasses slowly into east and then into southeast, following some- 

 thing that was very plain and needed no careful scrutiny. With 

 the glasses still at his eyes he then made a movement which I in- 



