THE LONG NIGHT 



89 



for proportion and perspective, and though entirely 

 without previous practice, handled the pencil with 

 skill. 



Though snow was deep, I took long daily walks 

 with the Eskimos, or alone. This was my practice 

 from the beginning, for I realized that continuous, 

 systematic, out-of-door exercise, more than all else, 

 was necessary to keep me in health and in condition 

 for proposed hunting expeditions later. After the 

 hunters returned, fishing through the ice in the ponds 

 was resumed with some success; but the weather was 

 now so cold that it was all but impossible to keep the 

 holes open until fish appeared around the lure, and 

 could be speared, and as quickly as our lines were 

 taken out of the water they became as stiff as wire. 



Returning on a moonlight night from one of my 

 tramps I recall how plainly I could see Cape Sabine, 

 standing out grim and black against the white-clad 

 shores of Ellesmere Land. The air on that occasion 

 was so rare that Cape Sabine seemed less than ten 

 miles distant. 



Another trip to Humboldt Glacier was now 

 planned before the final disappearance of the sun 

 for the long night; and I was to join in it, and re- 

 ceive my first real experience on an Arctic trail over 

 the ice. 



