FROM ICY CAPE BACK TO CIVILIZATION 365 



was becoming alarmingly small. I had not counted on such 

 small marches, but I tried not to think of unpleasant days to 

 come, as every day had burdens enough of its own. 



On Thursday, November 28, at 2 P.M., we thought that we 

 could smell smoke, while our tired dogs also began to pick up a 

 little and pull better. We climbed on to a piece of ice, but it 

 was too hazy to see far, so we went on edging in towards land. 

 The closer we came the stronger the smell became, and we 

 were not surprised, though nevertheless very pleased, when we 

 crossed a fresh track, heading a little more towards the shore 

 than we did. We let the dogs follow the trail, but it was 

 evident that the heavy pull over the salty ice with split runners 

 was beginning to tell on their spirits, and we had to use the 

 whip frequently, even after they heard barking ashore. A few 

 minutes later a house and some natives loomed out of the fog, 

 and the people came running towards us ; for visitors were 

 scarce in those places, and their arrival could only be looked 

 upon as a pleasant event. 



Oursledge-runnersbrokecompletely when we hauled the sledge 

 up the bank outside the house. They were beyond repair and 

 were nothing but a collection of splinters ; this, of course, was 

 bad enough, but it would have been still worse had it happened 

 anywhere but just outside the house. 



We had to get a new sledge, and bought one from the natives, 

 an old thing, rather rickety, but anyhow better than our own. 

 It cost me all my small personal belongings, including my com- 

 pass and everything I had, except the five-dollar piece given me by 

 little Miss Campbell. It was Thanksgiving Day, and my dinner 

 on that occasion was not very splendid, consisting as it did of 

 cooked seal meat and dried salmon, with rancid seal oil as sauce. 



The people I stayed with, three families living in one house, 

 were rather nice, and had a large place, but they were short of 

 food, and I gave a little of my scanty store to the children, 

 much to Oojooaktok's disgust. Like all other natives along the 

 coast, these were highly religious and prayed for blessings on 

 their washing water, on their food, and on anything they used. 

 They have a number of rhymes which they repeat on every 

 occasion, mostly, however, I believe, when a white man is near, 

 and the people claim to have learned this excessive praying at 

 the mission at Keevalina. 



