BUFFETED BY STORM AND ICE 63 



performance of his duties he was sometimes at Etah, 

 sometimes at Annootok, and frequently absent with 

 the Eskimos on trading or hunting expeditions. 

 Billy also traveled much between Annootok and Etah, 

 and now and again I had his company at one or the 

 other of the two camps as on this occasion. Every- 

 thing at Etah appeared snug enough to leave, and we 

 began at once preparations for the journey. 



On September second the weather seemed pro- 

 pitious, with a fair wind springing up. While the 

 boat was being loaded, I visited Sipsu, removed the 

 dressings from his wounds, cleansed them thoroughly, 

 and rebandaged them. The cut in his face looked 

 bad indeed. But there seemed nothing more that I 

 could do for the patient, and leaving instructions 

 with his family for future treatment of the wounds, 

 we started the boatswain, Billy, five Eskimos, six 

 children and myself. 



At Littleton Island the ice had come in so solidly 

 that there was no passage to the northward and we 

 were forced to land at Lifeboat Cove, to await move- 

 ment of the pack. This landing was made two 

 hundred yards from the place where the Polaris was 

 wrecked, and along the shore I picked up several 

 souvenirs of her bits of copper wire and other odds 

 and ends. 



A heavy tide was running, and the roar of raft- 

 ing ice was terrific, with large pans moving to the 

 northward. Two miles from shore was an open lead 

 of water, but we feared to enter it lest the ice move- 

 ment change and the boat get nipped between the 



