258 SPORT, TRAVEL, AND ADVENTURE 



rifles alongside their sleeping-bags with elaborate pre- 

 paration for defence. 



As for myself, the night's prospect was miserable ; 

 my feet and hands were already numb with cold, and 

 my sleeping-bag, at best too small, now frozen hard 

 with moisture from my body, refused to admit me. 

 My tent, completely covered with a crust of frost, was 

 hardly more comfortable than the open. 



Under these conditions I slept but little, and was 

 indeed thankful when morning came and the Eskimos 

 were astir. My thermometer was gauged to register 

 only to fifty degrees below zero, and there the marker 

 stood. How much colder it was I cannot say. My nose 

 and cheeks were frozen, and my feet so numb Oxpuddy- 

 shou removed my boots and thrust both feet under his 

 birdskin shirt to warm them with the heat of his body. 



We had crossed nearly the whole face of Humboldt 

 Glacier, and not far away lay Cape Webster. Dog 

 food was nearly exhausted, the ice beyond was piled 

 in a rough, impassable mass, and it was decided to 

 turn back to Annootok. 



On our back trail the travelling was hard and slow. 

 The dogs were tired. I walked the greater part of 

 the time in a vain endeavour to keep my feet warm. 

 A light north wind cut through and through, and no 

 amount of physical exertion could overcome its effect. 



Near Cape Scott two white foxes were startled, and 

 darted away. A few ravens had been seen, but not 

 another living thing was encountered in the one hundred 

 and fifty miles traversed in search of bear. The whole 

 world seemed frozen and dead, save only our own 

 struggling selves, as we toiled southward over the white 

 wastes, 



