FROM ICY CAPE BACK TO CIVILIZATION 375 



possible speed. The slope was about three miles long, and the 

 whole stretch was taken at a single run, the dogs barking and 

 feeling happy and contented. That is, all the teams except 

 mine. They, to be sure, were not much inclined to show any 

 satisfaction at all ; not one of them had sound feet, all were 

 weary and tired, and, worse than that, they were underfed. But 

 dog-feed could not be had here, and I relied upon being able to 

 get some frozen or dried fish at Keevalina. Towards night the 

 wind sprang up again, and soon we were once more fighting 

 against the whirlwinds, until we came to what we supposed to 

 be an empty house, and pulled in, only to find it full of natives. 

 We managed to squeeze ourselves in somehow, but spent an 

 exceedingly unpleasant night. The weather changed during 

 the night ; instead of wind we had a heavy snowfall, and of all 

 hard things on the trail that is the worst. It clogs the runners 

 and makes them drag ; it gets between the toes of the dogs and 

 forms small balls of ice, which soon wear away the thin skin 

 between them ; it is hard for the men to wade through, and, 

 worse than either of these, we cannot make any headway. But 

 at noon the snowing ceased and a wind sprang up, sending the 

 drifting snow right into our faces. In low spirits and very tired 

 we reached a native house, where we stayed for the night 

 instead of pushing on to Keevalina, which we reached on the 

 following day, December 16, at 12 A.M. 



We met the missionary and his wife, who acted as a school 

 teacher, and we saw the third school-house in a stretch of sixty 

 miles. It is a strange thing that so many school-houses should 

 be built so close together, and one at least of the three was 

 almost empty, the school-house at Point Hope, where at the 

 time of my visit there were only three children. At Keevalina 

 there is not the same opportunity for hunting as at Point Hope, 

 and seals are almost at a premium. In summer there is some 

 fishing in the river, which joins the ocean just beside the village, 

 but it is not enough to support the people, who flocked from 

 Point Hope to this place when the school was built. It is only 

 natural that the natives should congregate round the missionaries, 

 the more so when they are trading at the same time, but for 

 this very reason more care should be taken in selecting a centre 

 for their activity. At a place like Keevalina the natives cannot 

 exist, but have to go to Point Hope for food. At Keevalina I 



