112 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



pect of fresh adventure and new experiences decided 

 me to accept, particularly as the moonlight now was 

 nearly as bright as day, and with good ice the hunt- 

 ing-grounds were little more than one day's journey 

 distant. 



Long before twilight, which still marked our day, 

 appeared in the east, I ate a breakfast of hare's liver 

 and bacon, gave each of my Eskimo companions some 

 tea and biscuit, and with light outfit lashed on sledges 

 we headed south. We had gone but four miles when 

 we found ourselves on moving ice and were forced 

 to the land to escape being carried adrift. This 

 necessitated a very long, hard trip through a valley, 

 with many steep and tortuous hills to climb. Some 

 of the places that we traversed seemed impossible of 

 passage, and the ability of the Eskimos in working 

 dogs and sledges over them was to me a constant 

 source of wonder and admiration. 



Thus we traveled for many tedious hours, until 

 finally a halt was made alongside Crystal Palace 

 Glacier, and the Eskimos began at once to build a 

 snow igloo. Blocks were cut from a drift, placed on 

 edge, built up in circular form, with narrowing tiers, 

 until a key block in the top made the whole firm. 

 Completed, the igloo was dome-shaped, and measured 

 within about ten feet in diameter. Its construction 

 occupied about forty-five minutes. 



A strong northeast wind was blowing, the snow 

 drifting, and I was half frozen, standing about in- 

 active while the building was in progress. But the 

 igloo proved a very comfortable shelter when I 



