9 8 



CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



have entered the head of slow and easygoing Uxra. He fur- 

 nished the labour and furs, she the brains, and between them they 

 were shrewd, and never gave a pear unless they got an apple in 

 return. However, they were always nice to us and apparently 

 were glad to have us wintering at the island. They lived in a 



tent when we came, 

 and were busy getting 

 their winter home 

 in trim. Their little 

 baby Nagoorok was 

 a Nunatamiut child, 

 and had been adopted 

 by Tullik, so it was 

 said, for Uxra's sake, 

 as he was very fond 

 of children. 



On the extreme 

 west of Flaxman 

 .. Island there were 

 v ^, some houses in ruins, 

 while some tombs 

 showed that the last 

 inhabitants had died, caught, as we learned later, in a blizzard 

 and frozen to death. 



The island is not large, only about four miles long, and 

 three-fourths of a mile broad. The east end is rather high, 

 about thirty-five feet, the middle very low, not much above the 

 level of the sea, and the west end is a little higher. Numerous 

 small lakes are scattered over the surface of the island, and we 

 could still see ducks and geese swimming about in them, although 

 the bulk of the migratory birds had left for the south. Tall 

 strong grass covers the surface of our little island, and on 

 the beach is an immense amount of driftwood. Large trunks 

 of pine or cottonwood, which must have come from the distant 

 Mackenzie River, are mingled with small scrub trees from the 

 numerous rivers which intersect the mainland, only two miles 

 distant. 



But the most interesting feature about our island is the fact 

 that it is an ancient glacier. During the beginning of our stay 

 Mr. Lefftngwell had been out looking over the geology of the 



TULLIK WITH NAGOOROK, 



