ADRIFT ON THE ICE 167 



until the next moon. This was not only disappoint- 

 ing to them, it was tragic, in view of their depleted 

 supplies. 



Suddenly one day the wind moderated, and it was 

 decided, even with failing light, to make an attempt 

 to reach the walrus grounds. All was activity at 

 once. Outfits were hurriedly packed, komatiks 

 loaded, dogs harnessed, and at two o'clock on the 

 morning of January eleventh our expedition turned 

 southward. The weather was bitter cold. A bright 

 moon lighted the measureless expanse of ice and snow, 

 and the heavens were aflame with the aurora borealis, 

 now flaring across the sky in every direction like a 

 thousand powerful search lights, now melting into 

 a mystical, luminous vapor of changing color, now 

 taking a form that fancy easily imagined a mighty 

 flag waving in a strong breeze. 



This display of northern lights surpassed any- 

 thing I had seen and must have been one of unusual 

 brilliancy and variation to the region, for even the 

 stolid Eskimos exhibited a keen interest and talked 

 long and earnestly about it. To me it was awe-in- 

 spiring and grand, typifying that inexplicable mys- 

 tery that enshrouds the great white Arctic world 

 something evasive, that one feels and knows exists, 

 but never can quite grasp a ghostly being that re- 

 pels but always and inevitably draws one back to 

 the land where it stalks, just as a magnet draws parti- 

 cles of iron. 



As usual, traveling was very hard. Five miles 

 below Annootok the ice was piled in an insurmount- 



