348 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



but we had been longer on the trail than we expected and 

 consequently wanted to lose as little time as possible. 



At night we stayed with the Eskimos. It is not an unmixed 

 pleasure, as they often sit up all night to play a peculiar kind 

 of whist, which is, I believe, their own invention. The course 

 of the game is not smooth, but is marked by continual quarrels 

 and discussions. As they are smoking all the time, the men as 

 well as the women, the air at last becomes suffocating, but still 

 it is better to sleep in a house than in a tent, and we were 

 willing to put up with considerable inconvenience in order 

 to do so. 



Besides, it was almost impossible not to like them or be any- 

 thing but pleased with the treatment we received at their 

 hands. They all knew who I was and took the greatest 

 interest in everything pertaining to our expedition. From 

 beginning to end we were treated with kindness and considera- 

 tion, were always given the place of honour, and all they had 

 was ours. 



But in spite of everything I was exceedingly anxious to reach 

 Point Barrow. Rumours were abroad that the dogs which the 

 S.S. Narwhal had failed to land at Flaxman Island had been 

 thrown overboard, but I could see no reason whatever for such 

 an action and tried not to think of it ; it would be a very heavy 

 blow to Mr. Leffingwell as well as to myself. 



At about i P.M. on November 8 we reached the village at 

 Point Barrow. After that we were soon in Tom Gordon's 

 house, where we had some lunch. And there my worst fears 

 were confirmed. The dogs had not been landed, only the 

 provisions, and not even all we had a right to expect. After 

 lunch we started for the whaling station at Cape Smyth, where 

 we found Mr. Brower, but he could only repeat what Tom 

 Gordon had stated, that no dogs and very few provisions had 

 been landed. But, in spite of disappointments, it was a splendid 

 feeling to be once more in a large and comfortable house where 

 a bath was waiting, a razor ready stropped, and clean clothes 

 provided for me. In an hour I had made my toilet and 

 emerged from the bath-room in borrowed feathers from top to 

 toe. 



There is a big whaling industry at Point Barrow, and all the 

 natives living there are engaged in it. Mr. Brower's station 



