CHAPTER II 
PREPARING TO START 
June 23rd.—So there was nothing for it now but to 
make a determined effort to find the natives. Obviously 
this was the first thing to be done. 
Our trial trip of yesterday had shown me one thing 
pretty plainly. This :— 
If I held to my original idea and should try to reach 
the Waskina by travelling down the west coast, we 
should have entries to go round, and at least two big 
rivers —the Gobista and the Kriva—to cross. Our 
passage of the Gusina did not altogether tempt one to 
repeat the process more than was absolutely necessary. 
Also the sleighs we tracked yesterday had made away 
for the east. 
So it seemed better in every way to steer for Scharok 
harbour, keeping as much as possible to the high land 
which would form the divide between the watersheds. 
Knowing nothing of the interior of the island, it was 
impossible to say how long such a walk would take. 
It might be, too, that we should arrive at Scharok 
only to find that there were no natives there. What 
should we do then ? 
