504 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



ness, and I had to send Emiu with a message to bring them over 

 to our camp. 



Comparison of notes between Castel's party and mine brought 

 out clearly once more the great advantage of "living off the coun- 

 try." We had given him nearly all our provisions, but this had 

 not turned out to be for his advantage, for hauling the food had 

 made his progress slow and had tired out his dogs. Struggling 

 ahead as fast as possible, the men harnessing themselves to the 

 sled to help pull it along, their progress through the soft snow had 

 been only eight or ten miles a day. We were carrying loads 

 less than half as heavy and even with me on one of the sleds and 

 the other men riding occasionally, we had traveled at such a speed 

 as to cover in one day what it took Castel three to make, with the 

 result that, although his route had been not more than ten or 

 fifteen miles longer than ours and though he had had no delays and 

 we many, we arrived ahead of him. Not only that, but the dogs 

 which had been picked for him because they were the fattest and 

 in best working condition were now tired and thin, while ours 

 which had been tired and poor were now fresh and had more 

 than caught up to Castel's as to fatness. 



During that last week or two I must have been suffering from 

 an attack of nerves brought on probably by my helplessness and 

 inactivity. On May 29th, for instance, the following is part of a 

 diary entry: 



"The future is beginning to look black to me. My fall into the 

 crevasse seems to have set my foot back to where it was nearly 

 a month earlier and increases the probability of permanent weak- 

 ening of the ankle, just when I need every physical resource to 

 bring my work to success. I have never endured anything harder 

 than lying at home in camp now when we need meat both as food 

 and to encourage the men. Emiu is turning out badly. He is 

 continually peevish, complaining of hardships and talking of the 

 various charms of the salmon and mosquito country from which 

 he comes. Natkusiak is becoming affected." 



In many ways Emiu was one of the best Eskimo companions I 

 have had. He could run all day without geting tired and there 

 was not a lazy bone in him, but at Nome he had picked up the 

 typical laboring man's idea as to what constitutes good food. Cas- 

 tel was one of my best men, energetic, efficient and not devoid 

 of ambition. In the navigation school which he had attended in 

 Holland to prepare himself to be a ship's officer, he had learned 

 the use of astronomical instruments and was competent not only 



