SHERARD OSBORNE FJORD 



a little of the hazard which is bound up with the life of the Eskimo 

 and of the expeditions, whose future, after the manner of the 

 hunters, depends upon hunting on new grounds. 



THE FIRST HUNTING 



May 8th. — We have been continually looking out for the 

 snow which caused Beaumont and his men such great difficulties, 

 and only to-day on our way to Cape May do we find it. For 

 the first time since we left Thule the dogs lie down and refuse to 

 continue, and, so that the whip might not be used too indus- 

 triously, we prefer to go in front on skis. The dogs then will- 

 ingly follow, dragging the heavy sledges. We have all taken to 

 our snowshoes and skis, for without them it is quite impossible to 

 make one's way through the snow. Once more we admire Beau- 

 mont and his men who, with the intolerable pains of scurvy, 

 stumbled across ground like this, with stiff legs, tender, skinned 

 feet, and, from the traces of the sledge, sores on shoulders and 

 back. 



After six hours of toilsome marching, we reach a large block of 

 ice where we make a halt, as thick weather from the west draws 

 across the fjord and blocks our view. A clammy fog envelops 

 everything and a raw breeze gives us a gloomy greeting from the 

 Arctic Ocean. 



May 9th-llth. — The following day we have to continue in the 

 same weather, for it would be impossible to remain here. Some 

 distance from Cape May the weather clears and turns out fine, 

 and we hurry ahead and reach land after six hours. 



We round Cape May through difficult pressure-ice, and when 

 we have passed a headland where the ice is even and bare of snow, 

 the dogs set off at a trot whilst we ourselves for the first time 

 during a long period throw ourselves down on the empty sledges. 

 We know from previous American expeditions that half a 

 score of years ago there were musk-oxen in this neighbourhood, 

 and I therefore decide to try to hunt in earnest before the dogs 

 are too far gone. Ajako and Inukitsoq are sent up through the 

 valleys to some large mountainous stretches, topped by glaciers, 



99 



