162 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



up. He stowed it away and began carefully searching 

 the wooden roadway for more. 



Kusche rejoined us with many boxes of specimens. 



We got on board by means of the launch ''Wilhel- 

 mina" for one dollar apiece. Martin, one of our sailors, 

 was very drunk on shore and it required the marshal to 

 put him on the "Abler" with his two reserve bottles 

 intact. We weighed anchor at 3.30 p. m. after a pleasant 

 stay in Nome, now restocked with meat and provisions, 

 and in the fair northwest wind laid our course for St. 

 Mike, as the Nome newspapers familiarly called St. 

 Michael. 



The wind held fair till night and we made good time. 

 Collins and Lovering improved the opportunity by pack- 

 ing their walrus scalps in barrels of pickle. 



By morning the wind had drawn to southwest and 

 this kept us from arriving till about 2 p. m. Collins and 

 Lovering boxed their walrus skulls, but could ship noth- 

 ing for lack of a permit from the Customs office in Nome, 

 where we had entered the things on arriving from 

 Siberia, so we had to write for the necessary papers to be 

 sent to us at Seward. 



Through steady work, cheered on by the mate with 

 the lubrication of half a demijohn of whisky, the crew 

 loaded aboard sixty-seven iron gasoline drums, some 

 full and some empty, and made all ready for an early 

 start the next day. The light gasoline floated even the 

 full drums as they were rolled into the water beside the 

 ship. Kleinschmidt owned a new parka given him by 

 Ed Bom. They had disposed of the rest of their trading 

 goods and had evidently partaken of a love-feast. 



We started as soon as breakfast was over, in a light 

 southeast air, and steered for the Yukon Flats off the 

 delta of the great river. 



