316 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



Though the sky was overcast, the glare was awful. 

 Our eyes were inflamed, and the Eskimos as well as 

 myself suffered much pain and inconvenience from 

 this cause they, perhaps, more than I. 



But there was no time for rest. My calculations 

 placed us nearly one hundred and fifty miles from 

 Annootok by the only feasible route. A cloudy sky 

 and shifting wind foretold a storm, and should snow 

 come the difficulties of travel would be vastly in- 

 creased. As quickly as possible, therefore, every- 

 thing was made ready for the komatiks. 



Now for the first time I realized how vast was 

 the mass of trophies and meat that awaited transpor- 

 tation, in addition to our camping paraphernalia. 

 It was no small problem to load the komatiks, and it 

 soon developed that all could not be accommodated. 

 The Eskimos wished to abandon some of the skins 

 and heads, that no meat might be left behind; but 

 I insisted that every trophy be taken, and a cache 

 made of the surplus meat. The Eskimos could re- 

 turn for the meat at some future convenient time, 

 while I should have no opportunity to recover 

 trophies should they be cached. The country to 

 be traversed was exceedingly rough, which demanded 

 comparatively light loads, with every unnecessary 

 pound eliminated. Therefore to lighten the koma- 

 tiks further, I left with the meat cache one box of 

 biscuits, one small bag of corn-meal, four cans of 

 baked beans, and all the grass we had brought for 

 our boots which we believed we should not need. 

 This grass is worn in the boots to absorb moisture 



