ON THE SMITH SOUND ICE 825 



devoted myself to making the little musk-ox com- 

 fortable. The hard traveling, the storm, and the un- 

 natural conditions had worn upon her. She was very 

 weak and quite ill. I built a box house shelter for 

 her, wrapped her in a blanket, and did everything in 

 my power to save her, but later the poor little thing 

 died. During the great number of miles I had car- 

 ried her in my arms we had become greatly attached 

 to each other and her loss grieved me more than I 

 can say. 



After an absence of six hours the komatiks re- 

 turned with the abandoned trophies. Unfortunately 

 the tips of some of the horns had been cracked by 

 coming in contact with rough ice. The skins were 

 wet, and before permitting myself any rest I spread 

 them out to dry in one of the stone igloos. 



Sipsu and Pierwater, who had gone north in search 

 of bear, had been back five days when we reached 

 Annootok. The bear hunt proved a failure, but 

 turning up one of the bays north of Victoria Head, 

 they killed nine musk-oxen, all of which had good 

 heads. Pierwater had brought back a live musk-ox 

 calf. It was much larger and stronger than mine, 

 and as he captured it not over forty miles distant, it 

 had a comparatively short and easy journey, and was 

 in very good condition and health. 



All the women had left Annootok. I desired their 

 assistance in cleaning and preserving the skins. It 

 was necessary this be done at once, for they were now 

 thawed, very wet, and in danger of spoiling. There- 

 fore I deemed it wise to move to Etah with my 



