WHEN THE ESKIMOS LEFT US 255 



us. I sent with them to Etah a hox of curios I had 

 collected during the winter, including my extra pair 

 of bearskin trousers. Before the day was over I was 

 sorry I had sent the trousers. 



There was no certainty when the Eskimos would 

 come back, or when we should be able to renew our 

 coal supply. The two bags, thoughtfully brought up 

 by Oxpuddyshou, eliminated the fear of immediate 

 famine ; but nevertheless we felt that it would be only 

 wise to continue economy in its use and reserve our 

 scant supply chiefly for cooking. In consequence, 

 camp was very cold and uncomfortable and I spent 

 much of the day tramping and taking photographs. 

 During a walk I climbed an iceberg and in descend- 

 ing slipped and tore my bearskin trousers so badly 

 that I was forced to retreat to camp at once. 



But now fortune favored me. The following day 

 was excessively cold until evening, when the temper- 

 ature took a sudden rise and snow began falling. I 

 remained indoors and was just dozing off to sleep 

 in the evening when all at once dogs began howling 

 outside. I rushed out, and there, to my great de- 

 light, was Ilabrado and his kooner with two sacks of 

 coal and three sacks of ewey grass for me. Ewey 

 grass is found at the foot of the little Aux rookeries 

 near Etah, and is worn by the Eskimos in their boots 

 to absorb moisture. 



I hurried my friends into the shack, delivered the 

 wreck of my bearskin trousers to the kooner, and 

 while I cooked them a good hot supper, she mended 

 them perfectly. They had run up for the night, and 



