82 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



distant outpost of their empire. Outside of this building 

 a high military mast was planted and guyed. 



Frank, the rich man of the place, took me to his 

 cache in a small frame house, and offered a good light 

 dog sled for ten dollars — being willing to accept six. 

 When Kleinschmidt engaged him as one of three men to 

 go with us, hunting walrus farther north, and take one 

 of his skin boats for use in the hunting, Frank was much 

 pleased. He cemented the business arrangement by giv- 

 ing Kleinschmidt his Christian name: "Me and you all 

 same Frank." 



We shopped industriously among the natives, buying 

 curiosities and trinkets: ingenious fishing tackle, the line 

 made of whalebone, so that it would not freeze, together 

 with the sticks and reel, with which it was pulled out of 

 the water to avoid wetting the hand. A boy's toy sling, 

 a harpoon, a walking stick, snow shoes, some old ivory 

 also fell to our seductive chewing gum and tobacco, and 

 we had to give a keyhole saw for one of the stone lamps 

 in which the natives burn seal oil, using moss as a wick. 



There was a very pretty girl, Chewingo, among 

 the young women of the village, who quite won our 

 hearts. But any budding romance was nipped by the 

 cold wind from the northwest which forced us to leave 

 our anchorage suddenly. 



The breeze freshened, and as we could no longer lie 

 off the unprotected beach and besides were otherwise 

 ready to make our attempt to reach Wrangell Island, we 

 started and drove all day against the head wind. Three 

 of the natives, Frank, John and Slim, had been taken on 

 board, together uith Frank's large skin boat to be used 

 in hunting walrus. When the rising sea began to knock 

 us back as fast as we came the watch set sail on the port 



