OFF FOR THE INLAND ICE 151 



gathered on our roof, which is dry and retains the sun's heat. 

 Noyah, the baby, rolled about entirely naked in a tempera- 

 ture of 22°, except for a cap, which was nothing more or less 

 than the toe of one of i\Ir. Peary's cast-off blue socks. Ver- 

 hoeff, who has made a tour to one of the neighboring icebergs, 

 reports that the snow has been swept from the ice in the mid- 

 dle of the bay, and that the ice has commenced to melt. 



Saturday, May 21. The past week has seen our home 

 again converted into an Eskimo encampment. There have 

 been numerous arrivals of old and new faces, representing all 

 conditions of age from the tiniest baby to Tahtara's mother. 

 The simple folk have come as heralds of the approaching spring, 

 some to stay and others to proceed farther. They report the 

 return of the little auk at Keati. Yesterday and to-day 

 have been wild, stormy days, the wind blowing a gale from 

 the southeast nearly all the time, and when it was not actually 

 snowing the snow was flying so furiously that it was all but 

 impossible to face it. The two Eskimo families in the snow- 

 igloos experienced much discomfort, and this morning Kyo 

 called for Matt to dig him out. The snow had drifted in the 

 entrance to his igloo until it had filled and piled up higher 

 than the house, and he had had great dif^culty in keeping an 

 air-hole open during the night. 



Monday, May 23. A beautiful day. I hoisted a new flag 

 on Redcliffe House in honor of my sister Mayde's birthday. 

 Yesterday was the anniversary of my own birth, the first of 

 my life when I did not receive a birthday wish from my dear 



