494 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



gathering daylight of late January would not arrive in any case 

 until after our exploratory parties would be already on their way 

 northward. Thomsen must therefore return to Melville Island 

 immediately, spending only a day or two at Kellett; for otherwise 

 he would fail to get back to us in time to be of any use in next 

 year's exploratory work. 



Castel, Emiu and Natkusiak I would take with me for some 

 distance and send them back in ample time to get to Melville Island 

 before the break-up to help Storkerson during the midsummer and 

 autumn in the hunting and in the making of dried meat. 



In view of my sprained ankle I had to consider returning to 

 Melville Island, entrusting the advance work to some one else, 

 perhaps Castel. I concluded, however, that there was no need 

 for my doing so, since we had provisions to last at least thirty days. 

 I had always heard that a sprain required about a month for recov- 

 ery and I expected to ride in the sled for that time. This would 

 give a sound foot again by the time it was needed for hunting, 

 and anyway seal-hunting in the summer consists of crawling and 

 wriggling along the ice and that can be done by a lame man as well 

 as by a sound one. For the time being Natkusiak could hunt seals 

 for us. Emiu, who had never hunted them on the summer ice, 

 was eager to learn and so were all the white men, and I had no 

 doubt that if I should be unable to hunt they would manage all 

 right. We had with us more ammunition than usual, so economy 

 in that respect was not imperative. 



Besides two ordinary rifles and a hundred and fifty or two hun- 

 dred rounds of ammunition intended for the use of the support 

 party, we had for the advance work three Gibbs-Mannlicher- 

 Schoenauer rifles and five hundred rounds. Two rifles were car- 

 bines which we carried ready for use in light canvas hunting cases 

 on top of the sledges. The third was a long rifle equipped with a 

 telescope sight in addition to the ordinary sights, and this was car- 

 ried inside the load in a heavy steel and wood case. I have told 

 how it was our custom on nearly all trips to carry one rifle in re- 

 serve, protected as carefully as possible from injury. The case 

 this one was carried in weighed ten pounds, two pounds more than 

 the rifle it protected. 



Various letters to Storkerson and other officers of the expedition 

 were not ready until May 7th, a delay we did not mind while the 

 tired dogs were resting. On that date Storkerson, Martin and Illun 

 started south. Two days before (May 5th) Castel, Noice and 

 Charlie started north along the coast to begin the survey beyond 



