ESKIMO VISITS ON BOARD THE 'FRAM.' 113 



Kolotengva, arid learned as much as I could about Peary and the 

 u Windward." Much that had been obscure before was now clear. 

 Kolotengva drew for me with his whip-handle the outline of the 

 country newly fallen snow makes capital drawing-paper and 

 then he went on to explain how Peary in the autumn had gone 

 southward and obliquely to Bache Peninsula, where he had shot 

 sixteen polar oxen, and how he had also been walrus-catching 

 farther up the sound. 



'This spring, also, Peary had been on an expedition in the 

 same direction, but had shot no game ; and had been so unfortunate 

 as to get his feet so badly frozen that he had lost, I think, seven 

 of his toes. He had also been unlucky with his dogs, for many 

 had died during the course of the winter. 



' I now asked Kolotengva how he had become possessed of all 

 this information, and he told me that already this spring some of 

 Peary's Eskimo had returned to Karva, where they had their homes. 

 First of all, four had come back two men with their wives and 

 later, not so very long ago, one Eskimo alone. 



' He described the route they had all taken, and how they had 

 had good ice all the way to Cape Sabine, whence they had crossed 

 Smith Sound, where the ice had been very variable, and where 

 open water had compelled them to make a turn to the north. At 

 Littleton Island they had again made land, and followed it right 

 down to Cape Alexander, where open water once more obliged them 

 to travel overland for a while. On my asking him where the 

 " Windward " lay, he answered very cautiously, and merely pointed 

 northward. 



'A little before noon we were perhaps somewhat north-east 

 of Victoria Head, at what distance I cannot quite say. Here 

 there were two formidable grounded icebergs ; at the outermost of 

 which Kolotengva stopped, and made me understand that there 

 was an igdloo (house) in the vicinity. We climbed up the 

 iceberg, and, quite- right, a little way inside of our route we saw 

 one of the Eskimo semi-circular snow huts. . In towards land, 

 just under Cape Victoria, Kolotengva said there was another 

 hut, but we could not see it. Of greater interest to us, however, 

 was that far to the north, right under land, we discovered something 

 VOL. i. I 



