A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



from swollen feet as to be unable to travel any farther. We 

 left them with one sledge at the edge of the ice, to be picked 

 up on our return to land. We intended to use six dogs in 

 hauling each of the remaining sledges. For a mile we struggled 

 steadily upward on slippery ice, at times being ankle-deep in 

 swift streams of water running over the face of the glacier. 

 The reflection of the sun on the ice was dazzling, and the strug- 

 gling men were bathed in perspiration, while the dogs scrambled 

 along with their tongues protruding. When we reached the 

 crest of the rise we found the surface of the ice was level, and 

 covered with about six inches of snow. Snow-shoes were pulled 

 on, the dogs harnessed to the sledges, and the party started 

 out into this frozen waste. 



For a long time several gray peaks on Olrik's Bay showed 

 in the distance, but these finally disappeared, and nothing but 

 an expanse of white snow bounded by sky-line extended in 

 every direction. The reflection of the sun on the glittering 

 snow was so trying that it was necessary to wear smoked-glass 

 goggles in order to avoid snow-blindness. Every half hour or 

 so, when we removed these for a few minutes in order to rest 

 the eyes, the surrounding landscape seemed at first crimson 

 and then pink before returning to its original whiteness. 



The only sounds that broke the silence of this waste were 

 an occasional low command to the dogs or the crack of a whip 

 from the Eskimos, and the steady swishing of snow-shoes on 

 dry snow, with the creaking of straining dog harness. After a 

 long march over the snow, deciding that we had penetrated far 

 enough into the interior to gain some idea of it, we started to 

 make camp. A low wall was made out of the sledges, and 

 upright snow-shoes and the tarpaulin was spread over the top 

 as a roof. The whole shelter was banked in and covered with 

 snow, leaving an entrance barely large enough for a man to 

 crawl through. The alcohol stove was lighted, ice was melted 

 for drinking-water, and a mess of rations was cooked and eaten. 



78 



