ON HERSCHEL AND FLAXMAN ISLANDS 323 



impossible, when at last a lull made us resume the hard work 

 with renewed vigour. Once ashore we threw out a towing line, 

 and Sachawachick and "Dad " towed the boat along the beach 

 while I was steering. However, it was a waste of time and 

 strength, and when we stuck and could see no way to get the 

 boat round a shoal, we hauled it ashore, took out our food, lit 

 a fire, and ate our breakfast after five hours' work. 



There was no doubt now that winter was coming on. All 

 the ponds were frozen over, young ice from the sea was forced 

 into all the windward sides of the bays, the water which had 

 drenched Sachawachick and myself had frozen in our clothes, 

 and the boat, outside as well as inside, was covered with a layer 

 of ice. When our breakfast was eaten, we each packed up a 

 bundle of our wet blankets, three days' food, one cooking pot, 

 the boat sail, and our rifles. Old " Dad " had a pack-saddle 

 strapped to his back and carried, besides his own food, some 

 few odds and ends. Then we started along the beach with the 

 blizzard blowing from behind so hard that it was almost 

 impossible to stand up against it. It was hard going over the 

 frozen ground, but we made good progress, forded a river, and 

 camped at last about ten miles to the east of Collingson's 

 Point. We had no tent with us, only the sails from the boat, 

 but we managed to make a kind of shelter out of driftwood and 

 the sails. Then we cooked our supper and turned in, wet to 

 the skin, and in blankets which we had wrung as nearly dry as 

 possible before we rolled ourselves up in them. But tired as 

 we were, we slept beautifully, and when we awoke on the 

 morning of September 13 the sun was shining, the wind had 

 died down entirely, and the weather was fine, but about 

 10 C. Off we went again, stepping carefully over the round 

 pebbles of the beach, which at least was better than walking 

 over the land, where the grass was frozen into small bunches 

 and made walking very difficult. We forded Sadlerochit River, 

 but suffered very much from the cold, as we were obliged to 

 walk for almost a mile waist deep in water which came straight 

 from the mountains and was cold as ice. The pain it caused 

 us was almost enough to make us cry out aloud, but across we 

 came, and again we started eastward along the beach, looking 

 for signs of the natives. We camped at night on a spot where 

 there had been an old Kokmolik village, and sat round a wood 



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