142 MY ARCTIC JOURNAL 



down from it, and occasionally fragments of ice breaking away 

 and dashing down with a muffled, metallic sound ; and more 

 than this, to find the ever-constant friend, the Arctic poppy, 

 growing actually beneath the overhanging walls of the glacier. 

 The great glaciers, too, that surround Tooktoo Valley, with its 

 green meadows and glistening lakes, will always remain with 

 me an exquisite recollection. 



Returning to our sledge, we made a direct line for our camp, 

 which was reached after an absence of ten hours. 



Wearied with our journey, we immediately prepared to rest, 

 and selected a sheltered nook on the sea ice, where the snow 

 was several inches deep, and w^here we were protected from 

 the light breeze which blows almost constantly by a huge but- 

 tress of ice, part of the ice-foot. The memory of the delightful 

 sleep of the night before, when we lay right out in the sun- 

 shine, helped me to hurry the sleeping-bags into place and 

 crawl into mine without losing much time. 



Tawanah came to me and asked if I would not like to ha\e 

 my kamiks and stockings put up on the rocks where the sun 

 could shine on them and dry out what little moisture they 

 might contain, and I told him to take them away. In what 

 seemed to me only a few minutes, but what was actually four 

 hours, I was awakened by some one grasping both sides of 

 my sleeping-bag, evidently trying to stand it and its contents 

 on end. The words "Don't roll over; try to stand up as 

 quickly as you can; the tide has risen above the ice," rang in 

 my ears. On looking about me I saw that I had been lying 

 in about six inches of water and peacefully sleeping. 



