FAREWELL TO THE SHIPS 31 



We were fearful at first that the noisy motor would 

 frighten the walrus, but soon found that they ap- 

 parently did not notice it in the least, and we were 

 able to approach easily within striking distance. 

 With harpoon and rifle I succeeded in killing seven- 

 teen in ten hours, several of them with excellent heads. 

 We had four harpooned at one time, and landed them 

 all. Norton and Larned secured ten between them, 

 while some thirty more were killed by others, a ma- 

 terial addition to the supplies of the expedition. 

 Walrus were very plentiful indeed along the north 

 shore, and some of them showed fight by charging 

 the boat. One of them, in fact, stuck a tusk through 

 the gunwale of our whale-boat on the starboard side. 



A dead walrus will sink at once, and it was, there- 

 fore, our rule to harpoon before shooting, unless the 

 animal was securely settled on an ice pan. One end 

 of a line was attached to the harpoon and the other 

 end to an inflated sealskin. When a walrus was har- 

 pooned the sealskin float was thrown overboard from 

 the boat. It always indicated the position of the 

 walrus, and when the animal was finally killed pre- 

 vented it from sinking beyond recovery. 



With her deck covered with carcasses the Erik 

 headed up Inglefield Gulf to Orlik Bay, at the head 

 of which good caribou hunting was promised. We 

 anchored near the mouth of the Bay, opposite the 

 little Eskimo village of Kangerderlooksoak. 



The power boat was made ready at once. Tent, 

 provisions, and necessary paraphernalia loaded into 

 it, and with eight Eskimo guides Norton, Larned 



