FROM THULE TO HUMBOLDT'S GLACIER 



monotonous voice overpowered me, and when I opened my eyes 

 after a few hours' sleep, old Simigaq had long ago crept home 

 to her modest den. I jumped down from the bench and peeped 

 out through the window to look at the weather. It was light as 

 day now, even in the middle of the night; the sky was clear, 

 without a single cloud, rounding itself like a blue dome above 

 the land and the white ice. A faint pink tinge announced that 

 sunrise was not far away, but it was yet too early to break camp. 



Next day, in brilliant sunshine, I drove on with Ajako to 

 the camp of Igdluluarssuit, while all the other sledges went 

 directly to Neqe. We still wanted a couple of pack-sledges 

 and some more meat, and at Igdluluarssuit lived Sipsu, an ex- 

 cellent hunter and experienced sledge-driver, whom I would 

 fain have with me on the last pack-sledge right up to Fort 

 Conger. 



April 9th. — The following day the sledges and all the meat 

 procured at Neqe were collected. The heaped meat formed a 

 considerable bulk, and we had twenty-seven sledges and 354 

 dogs to transport it. This was rather a large apparatus to set 

 moving for the sake of six sledges, and to understand it the 

 following explanation is necessary : 



As already mentioned, all our equipment was Eskimo 

 throughout, as were also the provisions. Walrus meat is excel- 

 lent food for the dogs, but it has the great drawback of 

 containing 65-70 per cent, of water. This makes it very heavy 

 for transport, and whilst one can reckon a pound of pemmican 

 a day for each dog, one must reckon of walrus meat or skin 

 about three pounds a day, or from five to six pounds even' 

 second day. And besides our own dogs we had, of course, to 

 feed the teams of the pack-sledges as well. 



We planned our journey so that altogether fifteen sledges 

 were to go to Humboldt's Glacier, thirteen to Cape Constitution, 

 eight to Thank God Harbour on Polaris Promontory, and by 

 the time we arrived here the loads would be so reduced that the 

 six sledges for the long voyage could take over everything. 



The meat, ordered beforehand, lay ready for us on the ice- 

 foot. I had only to pay for it and then distribute the loads. 



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