12 MY ARCTIC JOURNAL 



to US, and invited " Mr. and Mistress Peary " to stay with them 

 during their stop in Godhavn — a pleasure they were, however, 

 compelled to forego. In the afternoon a party of us from the 

 " Kite " set out on our first Arctic tramp, our objective point 

 being the summit of the lofty basalt cliffs that tower above 

 the harbor. My outfit consisted of a red blanket combination 

 suit reaching to the knee, long knit stockings, a short eider- 

 down flannel skirt reaching to the ankles, and the "kamiks," or 

 long-legged moccasins, which I had purchased in Sidney. 

 The day was exceptionally fine and sunny, and we started off 

 in the best of spirits. Never had I seen so many different 

 wild flowers in bloom at once. I could not put my foot down 

 without crushing two or three different varieties. Mr. Gibson, 

 while chasing a butterfly, slipped and strained the cords of 

 his left foot so that he was obliged to return to the ship. 

 Never had I stepped on moss so soft and beautiful, all shades 

 of green and red, some beds of it covered so thickly with tiny 

 pink flowers that you could not put the head of a pin down 

 between them. We gathered and pressed as many flowers as 

 we could conveniently carry — anemones, yellow poppies, 

 mountain pinks, various Ericaccce, etc. Sometimes our path 

 was across snow-drifts, and sometimes we were ankle-deep in 

 flowers and moss. Mountain streams came tumbling down in 

 every little gully, and their water was so delicious that it 

 seemed impossible to cross one of these streams without 

 stooping to drink. Our advance was very slow, as we could 

 not resist the temptation of constantly stopping to look back 



