THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 357 



had found a rookery of some large gulls, probably Barrow gulls, and 

 I tried to get some eggs, but they were too high up in a cliff. 



We were struggling steadily southward and I began to fear that 

 we would not get to Cape Kellett much ahead of the whaling ships, 

 if any were to come this season. By something like an inspiration 

 I made the guess in my diary that the first whaler would probably 

 arrive on the 10th of August. To make ready for this possibility I 

 began writing letters on the back pages of the diary, for I did not 

 see how we could possibly get to Kellett much before the 10th of 

 August and I wanted to have some mail ready. I also began my re- 

 port to the Government, writing in the evenings while the men were 

 cooking and sometimes when they were making dog boots. 



We expected to make a crossing to the west side of Mercy Bay, 

 Banks Island, from Cape Russell, but the cliffs are precipitous at 

 this point and there is deep water inshore, so that a shore lead pre- 

 vented a landing until we had gone five miles east beyond the Cape. 

 Here we stopped for a day to repair harness, make dog boots and 

 prepare for the crossing, and incidentally we clambered about the 

 cliffs and found diff'erent layers of fossiliferous rock, useful in arriv- 

 ing at the geologic age of the strata in the vicinity. 



Food animals might well be scarce on the way across Melville 

 Strait. But the ice was sure to be rough, and for the safety of our 

 sleds and to prevent the harness from breaking too often we wanted 

 to be as light as possible. Accordingly we started on July 8th, 

 for what we expected would be a four days' crossing, with food 

 not quite enough for the four days. 



That day and the next we saw neither seals nor bears. The ice 

 was very badly cut up and sometimes the dogs had to swim. I 

 quote two diary entries: "Sunday, July 11th: 



"Started 7:50 A. M., camped on account of heavy rain at 2:15 

 P. M. Distance 12 miles. 



" 'It never rains but it pours' is true in more senses than one 

 of our situation this evening — short rations and heavy rain on an 

 ice field are a disagreeable combination. 



"Saw a bear track — fresh. 



"Monday, July 12th — A thick fog with variable light airs made 

 travel impossible until the afternoon. We were ready to start be- 

 fore six in the morning but were delayed by the fog till 2:30 P. M. 

 Camped about 12:15 A. M. July 13th, distance 14 miles. 



"We saw a seal at 6:30 and I shot him stone dead at about 100 

 yards. I foolishly delayed to shoot a second time 'to make sure 

 of him.' I then ran as fast as I could but the blood from the wound 



