428 HUNTING WITH THE ESKIMOS 



tops. Then to the delight of all the sun showed him- 

 self again through the black clouds and the storm was 

 at an end. 



Far out near the entrance of the harbor many wal- 

 rus could now be seen on the ice. The Eskimos were 

 eager to be at them, but the jam lay between. No 

 boat could work its way through the ice, and nothing 

 could be done but lie in idleness and await improved 

 conditions. However, while the Eskimos sat about 

 fretting at their inability to hunt, a north wind sprang 

 up, and even while we complained, the jam began 

 to move so rapidly that when I arose and looked out 

 on the morning of August twenty-eighth, as I reck- 

 oned dates, the harbor had been swept clear, though 

 too high a sea was still running to attempt the hunt. 



The day was fine and clear, and I walked back into 

 the hills on a search for hares and to exercise a bit. 

 Upon my return I lay down to rest until the sea 

 calmed, and was sound asleep when Kulutinguah 

 rushed in upon me shouting at the top of his voice 

 and acting like a man gone stark crazy. I was wide 

 awake at once. He was shouting, "Omeakswas! 

 Omeakswas!" [The ship! The ship!] 



I sprang out of bed almost as excited as Kulutin- 

 guah, and without putting on many clothes ran to 

 the top of a small hill near camp. In the distance, 

 a few miles to the southward, a large steamer was 

 heading toward Etah. My first thought was that it 

 was a steamer despatched from home to pick me up, 

 but soon my glasses showed her to be the Roosevelt. 

 As she drew nearer I put off in the whale-boat, in 



