The Shores of the Arctic. 197 



ern side of the mountains, ranging from — 20° to — 50° Falir. 

 I slejjt in a parka and beneath a deerskin robe. In the morn- 

 ing the long hair around the front of the hood was one mass of 

 ice, which had to be thawed out before the parka became man- 

 ageable. 



After descending the mountains, the route led through a 

 valley hemmed in by most forbidding-booking mountains, run- 

 ning up in jagged spurs to a height of 6,000 or 8,000 feet. Three 

 rivers in this valley run into one, which has its outlet near the 

 eastern extremity of the basin. A large area was covered with 

 ice, the result of overflow, but at the outlet the current had worn 

 its way through the ice. and the vapor arising from the exjDosed 

 surface gave the appearance, at a distance, of a l^oiling spring. 

 This river was followed to the shores of the Arctic ocean. j)ass- 

 ing often between towering mountains or through gloomy can- 

 yons, where the Avind howled dismally. 



On the eighteenth day, April 8, the ocean was reached. A 

 stiff breeze was blowing from the southeast and the mercury 

 registered — 30°. A fire of driftwood was made and shelter 

 was secured under the lee of a snow bank. The drifting snow 

 shrouded the horizon until late in the afternoon, when the Avind 

 ceased and a long line of hummock}' ice was revealed skirting the 

 gloomy shore. 



A record of our visit was inclosed in a brass shell, some observa- 

 tions were made, and early the next day the return trip Avas 

 begun. Camp Colonna Avas reached in six days, a rapid journey 

 considering the nature of the country, the frigid temperature 

 and the depth of the snoAV. 



Although the season was already Avell advanced and the sun 

 Avell on his northern journey, not the slightest evidence of a 

 thaAv' could be detected north of the valley of the Three Rivers. 

 The stream, Avhicli Avas foUoAved to the ocean, Avas frozen to the 

 bottom, objects ten feet beneath the ice being plainly visible 

 through the transparent medium. 



