SPRING IN THE NORTH ££ 



became longer and longer and on Monday, 4th June, it was 

 decided that komatik travel was no longer economical and the 

 final return to Base Camp was ordered. Small paying off pennants, 

 such as are hoisted by a ship at the end of a commission, were 

 hoisted in the bows of the two flats, and the drivers beat frying 

 pans to encourage the dogs. They left Bridges Run shack at 10 

 o'clock and the going was surprisingly good after an overnight 

 frost, although the komatiks were afloat from time to time. 

 Racing down the bay to Nain with the pennants flying and the 

 pans beating, the two komatiks made a brave sight to the watchers 

 in the settlement. The long sledging season was over, and the 

 next few days were spent in disposing of the dogs to their 

 original owners or those who wished to buy them. 



At the end of June the ice was breaking up everywhere in 

 the bays and in the runs. Every traveller coming in brought news 

 of new cracks and openings in the sea ice. A message had been 

 received that Bingham was required to go to England at the 

 earliest possible date to join an expedition going to the Antarctic, 

 and so Doc and Buck now turned their attention to this matter. 

 The steamer Kyle would come north as far as Hopedale as soon 

 as conditions made this possible but it would be necessary to have 

 a boat to get south from Nain to Hopedale. Negotiations were 

 commenced with one or two settlers who were knowTi to have 

 boats and finally it was agreed that John Voisey's would be in the 

 water by the evening of 27th June, and that Buck and Bingham 

 would set out in this boat with Waldo, another of the settlers, 

 before high water on the following afternoon so that they would 

 catch the tide going out through the runs. 



At first a few floating pans of ice were met, but once clear of 

 the Bridges Run the water was quite clear with fine weather. 

 The boat party landed on Achpitok Island about half-past eight 

 at night, lit a fire and cooked a meal, going on southwards an 

 hour later. The boat was an open one with an engine, which, 

 as in all other boats on the Labrador coast, was extremely tem- 

 peramental, and the hull leaked. Not long after leaving Achpitok 

 Island she broke down, and Waldo worked on the engine for 

 an hour and a half while the water in the bilge slopped miserably 

 from side to side as the boat lolled in the swell and Buck kept 

 the hand pump going steadily. Eventually the boat got going again 



