XVI 



WHEN THE ESKIMOS LEFT US 



ANNOOTOK was a pretty lonely place after 

 the Eskimos left us. Billy and I, thrown 

 entirely upon our own resources, took walks 

 on the ice foot and I tramped over the back country, 

 sometimes to hunt hares but generally with poor suc- 

 cess for they were exceedingly wild and we were 

 rarely able to see them until they scurried away out 

 of range. Though we did not yet have the direct 

 rays of the sun, my eyes gave me a great deal of 

 trouble when out on these tramps. They seemed un- 

 able at first to accustom themselves to even the modi- 

 fied light we had and became red and inflamed. 

 Sometimes after my return from walks they burned 

 horribly and I experienced the sensation of wishing 

 to dig them out with my fingers. 



One of the first excursions Billy and I took to- 

 gether was to the northward in the hope of killing 

 seals. I carried my 30-40 rifle while he was provided 

 with a harpoon and staff. We found the ice in good 

 shape for seals and normally they should have been 

 plentiful, but for some reason the blow-holes were 

 scarce and we saw none. 



We had gone some eight miles from camp and had 



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