ESKIMO VISITS ON BOARD THE TRAM.' 109 



that we saw the last Eskimo sledge disappear southward down the 

 sound.' 



Baumann had often of late talked of going a trip north to 

 visit Peary. As his fortunes greatly interested us on board, and we 

 wished much to know where he was, and what he was thinking of 

 doing, it was hastily determined that Baumann and Hassel should 

 make use of the opportunity to travel with Kolotengva. The 

 latter, however, declared that his dogs were so footsore that he 

 could not use them, so we lent him a team of ours, and the next 

 day they started off. 



I will let Baumann himself describe the trip by quoting from 

 the report he wrote immediately on his return from the sledge- 

 journey : 



' We were a party of three, and went to see where the " Wind- 

 ward " and Peary were. It was about half-past eight on the 

 morning of Sunday, March 19, when we started. The Eskimo, 

 Kolotengva, drove first, and, by dint of much shouting and frequent 

 use of the whip, urged his dogs to a gallop. I drove after Kolo- 

 tengva, and had nothing to do but to hold on to the sledge to keep 

 it on an even keel, for it would be a wonder if there were any 

 distance worth mentioning between my dogs and the sledge in 

 front of them. Last of all came Hassel, who at the start was 

 unlucky enough to get a dog on the wrong side of a hummock, 

 with the result that the dog's trace broke, and it always 

 takes some little time to catch a dog and splice a lanyard. Kolo- 

 tengva and I were obliged to stop to wait for him when we got 

 off the point, near the Meat-heap, as he was not in sight out in the 

 strait. 



' This was a fortunate circumstance for me, as Kolotengva then 

 discovered that my nose and cheeks were frost-bitten ; a condition, 

 however, that I am well accustomed to, so I was not surprised. 

 The cure is old and well known, so I will not repeat it here. 

 Mea'nwhile, it was not long before Hassel came in sight, and very 

 soon afterwards was behind us. Then on we went again at a brisk 

 trot, up towards the cleft in Bache Peninsula, following the flat 

 ice, frozen in the autumn ; but about a couple of miles north of 

 Cape Kutherford Kolotengva began gradually to bear to the north- 



