THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 511 



skeletons from decaying. On all the islands discovered by us ex- 

 cept Meighen Island, and on both Amund Ringnes and Ellef Ringnes 

 Islands, we have found seashells of the type to-day present in those 

 waters scattered so thick as to make the surface of the land gray 

 and in places almost white at various levels up to 150 feet, showing 

 clearly the recent elevation of these lands. 



While Castel's party set out towards evening of June 4th on 

 their search for King Christian Land and the journey southward, 

 Noice, Charlie and I began to follow the edge of the land floe north- 

 eastward. 



One of the first things we noticed was the gradual increase of 

 seals. Although I have in recent years disagreed both on grounds 

 of theory and experience with those who believe that seals get 

 fewer the farther north you go and eventually disappear, still I 

 have not gone to the extreme of thinking that they increase in 

 numbers as you go north. The greater numbers we now found were 

 there doubtless through peculiar local conditions, probably because 

 this vicinity the previous autumn had had more open water, thus 

 inducing the seals to gather where they had later wintered. 



I either overrated the disability of my ankle or else recovery 

 was remarkably rapid. On June 5th the ice was unusually level 

 and there was bright sunshine so that any inequalities in the snow 

 were shown in relief by the shadows. Thinking that if I wore 

 snowshoes and stepped carefully I should be unlikely to twist my 

 ankle, I decided to make the attempt to walk, going slowly with 

 a long bamboo staff to steady myself. I struck out an hour ahead 

 of the sleds and walked at the rate of a mile an hour until they 

 caught up. They then stopped and waited till I got a mile ahead 

 of them again. In this way I was able to walk six miles. Our 

 progress was slower than it would have been had I ridden on the 

 load but I was afraid that these men, being new, might be unduly 

 depressed unless I showed signs of ability to help myself. Further- 

 more, to-morrow was likely to be cloudy and I would not dare to 

 walk. The dogs would need their strength conserved on sunshiny 

 days so as to be able to haul me when it was cloudy. 



That evening optimism had returned, as shown by the entry: 

 "Richard is himself again, nearly. I walked six miles and felt 

 not a twinge, but then the light was good so I saw where I stepped 

 and I walked carefully. 



"I shot an ugrug on level ice near a tide crack at thirty-five 

 yards, about a mile southwest by south from camp. It is a young 

 animal. I watched him over five minutes through my glasses 



