FROM FLAXMAN ISLAND TO ICY CAPE 347 



poking their noses into every corner, trying to find meat or 

 other eatables. 



The natives were very kind to us. They unlashed our 

 sledges, took everything into the houses and fed our dogs, 

 while a pot of coffee and some seal meat was placed on the 

 stove in almost every cabin of the village, and the mistress of 

 each was waiting and eager to have us come to her house and 

 eat the meal she had prepared. And then they began to ask 

 us where we came from, what kind of a trip we had had, and 

 where we were going. When I showed them my destination 

 on a map they would not believe me ; it was much too far 

 " Oh, no, white jnan plenty lie ! " 



We stayed with them all day, living on the fat of the land, 

 attending to our many frostbites and the feet of our dogs, 

 while listening to their tales of events which had taken place 

 at their permanent home at Point Barrow. And we were 

 in fact only too glad to stay, for the weather was still very 

 cold, the mercury was frozen, and it was blowing from the 

 south-west. 



Our hosts were exceedingly kind. They gave us the best of 

 everything, their wives and daughters overhauled our clothes, 

 and one old woman sat up all night to mend my fur pantaloons 

 and other things which were in need of repair. When night 

 fell, the people who owned the igloo in which we stayed sent 

 their children out to find a sleeping place somewhere else, 

 while we took their places and rolled ourselves up in their 

 blankets, our sleeping bags being still wet from the journey 

 across Harrison Bay. 



The next morning the whole village saw us off, and we 

 followed some old sledge tracks towards Point Tangent. We 

 made splendid time, the more so as we had got a new dog, a 

 large powerful animal, which I had bought on credit from the 

 man who had entertained us on the preceding day. However, 

 this addition to our team was of very little real use to us, as he 

 broke loose during the first night and made for home, which 

 was about twenty-five miles distant. 



On Wednesday, November 5, we reached Elson Bay, and, 

 following the sand-spits, we made good progress along a well- 

 beaten trail. People were living all along the road, and we 

 could have got many hot meals a day if we had cared for them, 



