' ON HERSCHEL AND FLAXMAN ISLANDS 329 



The weather had been boisterous and bad all the way, the 

 going hard, and the frozen grass and gravel had cut our boots and 

 feet. Time after time we had been in the water, and, as if to 

 crown our discomforts, the ice between the mainland and 

 Flaxman Island would not bear us. About midway we reached a 

 small sand-spit, and then a squall set in with snow and sleet. 



ESKIMOS ON A SUNNY SLOPE OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE. 



We had cached our sledge, and all we had to protect us against 

 the cutting wind were our blankets. We fired some shots to 

 attract the attention of the inhabitants of the village, which 

 was only a mile away, but it was more than half an hour later 

 when we saw five forms emerge from the fog, the sleet, and the 

 snow. The size of one of them told me that it was Mr. 

 Leffingwell, and we hurried to meet them. They greeted us as 

 lost and happily recovered travellers, and told us that they had 

 been very worried over our long absence, as we had only taken 

 food for one week and had now been away for three. The con- 

 clusion they had come to was that we had probably drifted out 

 to sea during the violent gale on the second day after we had 

 left the camp. 



By means of the umiak we were soon on the island, and 

 went into Sachawachick's igloo to get something hot to eat. 



