282 FARTHEST NORTH 



" Little auks fly backward and forward in numbers, and 

 they sit and chatter and show^ themselves just outside the 

 tent door; it is quite a pleasure to see them, but a pity 

 they are so small that they are not worth a shot. We 

 have not seen them in flocks yet, but in couples, as a 

 rule. It is remarkable how bird-life has increased since 

 the west wind set in the day before yesterday. It is par- 

 ticularly striking how^ the little auks have suddenly ap- 

 peared in myriads; they whiz past the tent here with 

 their cheery twitter, and it gives one the feeling of hav- 

 ing come down to more hospitable regions. This sud- 

 den finding of Brlinnich's guillemots seems also curi- 

 ous, but it does no good. Land is not to be descried, 

 and the snow is in as wretched a condition as it can be. 

 A proper thaw, so that the snow can disappear more 

 quickly, does not come. Yesterday morning before 

 breakfast I went for a walk southward to see what were 

 our chances of advance. The ice was flat and good for 

 a little way, but lanes soon began which were worse than 

 ever. Our only expedient now is to resort to strong 

 measures and launch the kayaks, in spite of the fact that 

 they leak ; we must then travel as much as possible by 

 way of the lanes, and with this resolution I turn back. 

 The snow is still the same, very wet, so that one sank 

 deep in between the hummocks, and there are plenty of 

 them. We could not afford a proper breakfast, so we 

 took \% ounces bread and if ounces pemmican per man, 

 and then set to work to mend the pumps and put the 



