124 BY ESKIMO DOG-SLED 



sled trip. The pace was a trifle faster than 

 standing still, and that is about the best that 

 I can say for it. 



Happily the day was calm, or we could 

 never have moved at all. The method of 

 getting along was simple enough in a way. 

 The oarsmen stood facing the bows, so as to 

 see what was ahead ; sometimes they dipped 

 their oars in the water, but more often there 

 was not enough water within reach, and they 

 had to shove the boat along by pushing with 

 their oars on the ice. The captain stood up 

 with his pole, carefully keeping the boat from 

 bumping the ice, and separating the pans to 

 make a passage, and all the while he never 

 ceased from muttering orders to the rowers. 

 The boat's nose was never pointing in one 

 direction for more than a minute or two ; 

 north, south, east, and west we steered, and 

 once we were in the ridiculous position of 

 having to wriggle a hundred yards back 

 towards Okak in our search for a way. Things 

 went quietly enough as long as we were in 

 the shelter of the bay, but outside we met 

 the tide, and found ourselves in a field of ice 

 that was constantly on the move. The 

 captain leaned on his pole, darting this way 

 and that, and yelling his orders at the top 

 of his voice, and the willing boatmen toiled 



