2g6 



CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



morning of July 16, so we had to row. We started 

 at 7.30 A.M., but it took us till 2 P.M. to make a little 

 less than two miles, and so we camped, as the rowing 

 was only wearing the men out. We hauled up on a little 

 island in the mouth of the river, pitched our tent, and cooked 



our lunch. When we tried 

 to sleep, the mosquitoes 

 were so bad that it was 

 impossible to shut our 

 eyes, even with a smudge 

 burning in the tent. We 

 tried to roll ourselves up 

 in the blankets, but with- 

 out success ; we tried veils 

 round our heads, but the 

 mosquitoes found theirway 

 inside them, or kept biting 

 our hands and feet ; we 

 tried to go outside the 

 tent, but that was still 

 worse, and at last we had 

 to abandon all hope of 

 sleep, sat up, and made our- 

 selves comparatively com- 

 fortable by smoking con- 

 tinually. At ii P.M. the 

 weather became calm, and 

 we started once more to 

 go round the mudflats. 

 However, the wind sprang 

 up again, and this time so 



hard that before long we could scarcely make any progress at 

 all, and it was near dawn before we camped on the mainland 

 on the west bank of Sakovanuktok River. When we awoke, 

 the strong breeze of the previous night had become a gale from 

 south-west, and we could do nothing but track the boats along 

 the shore. The wind was luckily so much off shore that the 

 water was rather quiet, but when we came to the Koopowra 

 we had to camp, as crossing over the rather wide mouth of 

 that river was quite out of the question. 



PETERALEGOOK S SONS. 



