CHAPTER I I 



PREPARING TO START 



June 2$rd. — So there was nothing for it now but to 

 make a determined effort to find the natives. Obviously 

 this was the first thing to be done. 



Our trial trip of yesterday had shown me one thing 

 pretty plainly. This : — 



If I held to my original idea and should try to reach 

 the Waskina by travelling down the west coast, we 

 should have entries to go round, and at least two big 

 rivers — the Gobista and the Kriva — to cross. Our 

 passage of the Gusina did not altogether tempt one to 

 repeat the process more than was absolutely necessary. 

 Also the sleighs we tracked yesterday had made away 

 for the east. 



So it seemed better in every way to steer for Scharok 

 harbour, keeping as much as possible to the high land 

 which would form the divide between the watersheds. 



Knowing nothing of the interior of the island, it was 

 impossible to say how long such a walk would take. 

 It might be, too, that we should arrive at Scharok 

 only to find that there were no natives there. What 

 should we do then ? 



F 



