!^6 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



As the wind rose the whole ice field moved fifteen to twenty 

 yards from shore, enabling us to proceed by making occasional 

 portages over narrow barriers of jammed ice. The field was 

 marked by pits and channels, a few inches in depth, some of 

 which were deep enough to be utilized in passing obstructed 

 points. Several times I attempted to pass through such a chan- 

 nel, only to find the bottom covered with mud which gave it a 

 false appearance of depth, and to have the canoe strike hard 

 and fast. The rough and jagged ice soon wore away the gum 

 from the seams, but with care the bark itself escaped injury. 

 After five hours' paddling we reached a large settlement of 

 natives, situated upon the mainland, twelve miles south of the 

 harbor. They assured us that it would be impossible to reach 

 the island, and that we might as well camp with them for a few 

 days. One look at them was enough to convince me that we 

 had better move on if possible. They were dressed in the most 

 grotesque costumes, and their dissipated looks did not tend to 

 inspire confidence. Those who wore the native frocks kept 

 their hoods, bordered with long wolf hair, drawn closely about 

 their faces to protect them from the attacks of the swarms of 

 mosquitoes. One of the men wore a new sombrero with a very 

 broad brim. Others had miscellaneous odds and ends com- 

 bined with their native costumes, with the effect on the beholder 

 of having discarded a portion of their apparel and substituted 

 an incongruous textile fabric to mark the loss. Several wore 

 tight-fitting, red flannel drawers over their deerskin trousers. 



We continued a few miles along the shore, finding progress 

 more and more difficult, until we reached the long projecting 

 sandspit which extends to within a mile of a similar bar from 

 the southeastern point of Herschel Island. After searching for 

 some time to find a passage through the closely-packed floes, 

 with much chopping and pushing to clear our way, and with 

 some portaging, we reached the island, where we found the ice 

 firmly jammed against the cliffs, and further progress toward 

 the harbor, seven miles distant, impossible. We could, of 

 course, now travel overland, but as we were quite exhausted 

 with thirty-six hours' work without sleep, we sought first to 

 obtain a little rest before continuing. 



We ate our last bread and a bit of cold loon, set up our mos- 

 quito canopies on the sand, and were soon soundly sleeping. 



