IN AN OPEN BOAT 



the tide, and found ourselves in a field of ice that 

 was constantly on the move. The captain leaned on 

 his pole, darting this way and that, and yelling his 

 orders at the top of his voice, and the willing 

 boatmen toiled and shoved. At one moment the boat 

 was leaping forward through a clear channel ; at the 

 next, a big ice-pan would catch it and fling it round 

 with a shudder, while the men strove to hold it off 

 with their oars and perspired with the exertion. It 

 was an exciting time, but we got through without 

 damage ; and I felt as much relieved as the Eskimos 

 when we came to a stretch of open water and left 

 the churning ice behind us. About midday a light 

 breeze sprang up, and the men heaved a great sigh of 

 relief as they drew in their oars. In a minute they 

 had got the sails up, and the captain came jumping 

 over the thwarts and took the tiller. 



Two of the oarsmen made their way to the deep 

 bows, and sat there chatting and filling their pipes ; 

 another just fell asleep where he was, sprawling over 

 his oar; while Daniel looked up at me with a 

 twinkle, and said again, " Me cook." 



He seemed to enjoy my mystification, for his 

 next move was to pull a great butcher-knife from a 

 sheath hanging at his belt, and carefully sharpen it 

 on the palm of his hand. This was his hunting- 

 knife, his dinner-knife, the knife he used for cutting 

 his tobacco and for all the uses possible to imagine, 

 and 1 wondered what strange new use he had in his 

 mind for the well-worn tool. When it was sharp 

 enough, he chose a nice piece of firewood from a pile 

 at his feet, and began to whittle shavings, looking 

 up with his characteristic grin to repeat his joke 

 " Me cook, eh ? " 



195 



