THE FINDING OF THE RIGEL. 197 



The governor was kind enough to give us the use of his 

 twenty-one-foot whale-boat and a large tent. To these were 

 added provisions and bags and a crew of six Eskimos, one of 

 whom was a full-fledged "kayaker." We started at five 

 o'clock on the evening of August 10, leaving the crippled 

 ship amid the clieers and good wishes of our comrades. We 

 were soon in our oilskins, and on rounding the point at the 

 mouth of the harbor we turned north. The two spritsails 

 were set, and we were fairly oflf on our hazardous journey. 



We were cramped for room ; provisions, sleeping bags, 

 tents, and eleven men brought the gunwale uncomfortably 

 near the water's edge, especially when we got the full force 

 of the wind while crossing the mouths of the fiords, and the 

 tops of the waves came into the boat. The scene opening 

 up to us was grand and awe-inspiring, similar to what was 

 seen by the rest of the party in their trips about Sukkertop- 

 pen. Realizing, as we did, the seriousness of our mission, 

 it made a deep impression on us. As night, or rather twi- 

 light, dropped down about us, and the mountains far up the 

 fiords were reflecting the last red rays of the almost mid- 

 night sun, the bold rocks and headlands we were passing 

 stood out in all their savage beauty. The sharp guttural 

 **uk," "puk," "tuk," terminations to the Eskimos' warnings, 

 as they saw the squalls coming, were weird and unnatural. 



This ever-varying scene of rugged mountains and islands, 

 of the inland snow and the majestic fiords, was present dur- 

 ing the entire trip. We saw it in all the lights and moods 

 that nature alone could give, from the clear, sharp days when 

 the fog-bank rolled out to sea and the clouds lifted from the 

 mountains, showing us the shimmering ice-cap far inland on 

 the horizon, to the days of wind and rain, when, storm-bound 

 on some unknown island, we watched the black cliffs frown- 

 ing down at us through the mist and rain. 



Our run the first day was forty miles in eight hours, ar- 



