CHAPTER LIX 



IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EARLIER EXPLORERS 



AS usual when we crossed from one land to another we ran a 

 line of soundings from Lougheed Island towards Melville 

 Island. Ordinarily these are taken through the breathing 

 holes of seals. The ice here, rather to our surprise, was in consid- 

 erable part of this year's origin, and we formed the opinion even- 

 tually that Byam Martin Channel is probably open nearly every 

 year. In the narrow part near Bradford Point the ice was already 

 in motion, although slight, because it had not yet broken up. We 

 have never seen seals more numerous to the square mile of ice nor 

 bear tracks thicker. The tracks crisscrossed in every direction and 

 in some places there were paths and roads made by numbers of them 

 either traveling together or following each other's trails. 



Following south from Bradford Point we kept a sharp lookout 

 for beacons on the land and found one. Here we spent several 

 hours digging around, hoping for a cylinder buried "ten feet true 

 north" according to the rules of the Franklin Search, but found 

 nothing. In general the land is rather rugged and because of the 

 rocks there appeared to be less vegetation to the square mile 

 than in Lougheed Island. There were frequent traces of caribou 

 and we saw several bands, and cattle were also seen here and there, 

 although not as many as around Liddon Gulf. Considering the 

 abundance of seals and bears and the presence of land game, this 

 may be considered a hunter's paradise. If the hunting is as good 

 in the fall as in the spring, three or four hunters could easily sup- 

 port a party of forty or fifty men throughout the year. 



The coal was gone and we were burning seal blubber. One 

 day for an experiment we cooked with ovibos hair and wool. It 

 had been raining and the hides were damp, nevertheless we had no 

 trouble in boiling the pot holding about eight quarts of water with 

 the hair and wool of one skin. In dry weather we could probably 

 have cooked two or three pots to each hide. 



Near the southeast coast of Melville Island on June 23rd I 

 saw what was new to me in animal behavior. Three big caribou 



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