ADRIFT ON THE ICE 177 



hours of uninterrupted traveling, during which time 

 I had eaten nothing. I was nearly famished. For- 

 tunately, I had some deer's meat in my kit, and a 

 large piece of this, fried over the oil stove, with some 

 hot tea, supplied a luxurious banquet. This disposed 

 of, I spread my sleeping-bag on the ice under the 

 lee of a cliff, turned in with clothes and boots on, 

 and never slept better in my life. 



Six hours of rest, and we were again on our way. 

 At the broken igloo the sledges turned to smooth ice, 

 and in the distance water clouds loomed up, giving 

 promise that our hunting ground was near. 



Sipsu, in the lead, headed his dogs toward the open 

 water. Oxpuddyshou and I followed, while Teddy- 

 linguah and Tukshu were a considerable distance in 

 the rear. Numerous cracks in the old ice, some of 

 them very wide, crossed our path. These were cov- 

 ered with young ice, and before trusting our sledge 

 upon it cautious Sipsu tested its strength with a har- 

 poon staff. 



On this smooth, level ice the going was good, and 

 the dogs traveled at a rapid pace. We were permitted 

 to ride, and I took advantage of the opportunity to 

 settle comfortably on the komatik for a nap. I was 

 just dropping into a doze, when suddenly the Eski- 

 mos began shouting wildly and excitedly to each 

 other, and I opened my eyes to see them turning the 

 dogs sharply to another direction, whipping and 

 urging them forward at the utmost speed. Some- 

 thing momentous had occurred, but for a long time 



