174 -^I"^' ARCTIC JOURNAL 



my footing. We tried lower down, but with the same result. 

 E\^en had we made up our minds to bear the cold water, we 

 could not possibly have stood up against the current. We 

 then determined to try it in the lake, but were baffled there as 

 w^ell. By this time we were pretty well drenched, almost to 

 our waists, and yet the only thing for us to do was to wait for 

 the noon low tide of the morrow. We sat down on a rock, 

 took off our stockings and kamiks, and wrung the water out 

 as best we could, then put them on again. I knew it would 

 never do for us to sleep, or even sit still in our wet clothes, 

 for there is always a cool breeze blowing, and tlie night tem- 

 peratures average about 40° ; yet the prospect of twelve 

 hours more of tramping, when we had already tramped 

 twelve and a half hours, with nothing to eat — we had only 

 had coffee and a cracker before starting — and a cold fog set- 

 tling down upon us, was anything but encouraging. I sug- 

 gested that we go to the cache, where we had left the brandy 

 and milk for the inland ice-party, and mix a drink of some of 

 it, and then begin the climb to Nunatak Cache. This we did. 

 I had my old enemy, the sick headache, brought on by lack 

 of food and the excitement, and consequently every step was 

 agony, yet I knew I must keep on. Thoughts came crowd- 

 ing in upon me of my husband and my mother. We walked 

 and walked until almost ready to drop with hunger, fatigue, 

 and lack of sleep ; then, as we climbed above the fog into the 

 warm sunshine, we would sit down a few minutes, wrapping 

 our heads in our handkerchiefs to keep off the mosquitos. 



