154 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



everybody was busily engaged in preparations, the Eskimos 

 no less than the white men, all except Cropcana, who alone 

 looked down upon the busy multitude and offered good 

 advice. 



We had some very cold days towards the end of February, 

 and the minimum was reached on the I3th, when it was 50 C. 

 A very light wind was blowing and the weather was splendid, 

 but, judging by the sky, it was not to last long, and we knew 

 that the weather would probably break before long. On the 

 same day we had great trouble with the leak, and in the 

 course of one hour we measured two feet of water in the 

 hole. It was the extreme cold which caused it, partly by 

 making new cracks open alongside the ship through contrac- 

 tion of the ice, and partly by the uneven contraction of 

 timber and bolts. 



The worst of it was that we had no time to spend in rinding 

 the leak and barely time to pump the ship dry. This, how- 

 ever, had to be done, and we made the Eskimos do it when 

 they came down to get something to eat, but they soon under- 

 stood what was wanted of them, and did not come quite so 

 frequently as they had done before. 



On February 14, just when we had finished our midday 

 meal, Uxra came down to the cabin, perspiring and so out of 

 breath that he could hardly utter a word. But as soon as he 

 was able to speak his message sent us flying, for he told us that 

 Douglamana was very ill and " mocki kanekto " (almost dying). 

 Dr. Howe and I started at a run, and found our kind friend 

 squatting on the ground, giving forth some heartrending groans 

 and surrounded by a sympathetic crowd of women, all talking, 

 smoking, and telling what they themselves had done in a 

 similar case. Douglamana was not particularly ill, her pulse 

 and temperature were almost normal, but nevertheless she 

 demanded attention from everybody round her, and if any one 

 failed to pay sufficient respect to her illness she began to moan 

 so that she could have been heard half a mile off. Poor 

 Sachawachick was almost frightened out of his wits, but he told 

 us that he was not really afraid as long as the Doctor attended 

 to Douglamana. In a couple of days she was quite well again 

 and hard at work upon our outfit. 



On Sundays only did we rest, and our friends came down 



