A COLD WALK. 411 



with us, for the purpose of procuring water to drink/' a plan which was 

 frequently adopted afterwards. At the encampment on Keith Bay, Rae's 

 Eskimo, Ivitchuk, informed him that by crossing overland in a north-west 

 direction he would reach the sea much sooner than by following round the 

 coast, which here runs out north in a bold peninsula into Committee Bay. 

 Acting on this information, Eae led the party inland on the morning of the 

 13th, struck across the country, which was miserably barren in every respect, 

 in a north-north-west direction, and discovered and named Lake Ballenden. 

 On the 14th the weather was stormy, dark, and intensely cold. The wilder- 

 ness of snow presented no landmarks, and the guide was often puzzled to 

 decide upon the true track. The temperature feU to —12° in the afternoon, 

 and as a strong wind was blowing in the faces of the travellers, they suffered 

 much from cold. " We trudged on manfully," writes Eae, " until five p.m. 

 . , . At half-past five we commenced building our snow house. This was far 

 from pleasant work, as the wind was piercingly cold, and the fine particles 

 of snow-drift penetrated our clothes everywhere ; we, however, enjoyed our- 

 selves the more when we got under shelter and took our supper of the staple 

 commodities, pemmican and water. ... It blew a complete storm all 

 night, but we were as snug and comfortable in our snow hive as if we 

 had been lodged in the best house in England. At 5.30 the wind 

 moderated to a gale, but the drift was still so thick that it was impossible to 

 see any distance before us, particularly when looking to windward, and that, 

 unfortunately, was the direction in which we had to go. The temperature 

 was 21° below zero — a temperature which, as all Arctic travellers know, feels 

 much colder when there is a breeze of wind, than one of —60° or —70° when 

 the weather is calm. But there was the prospect of both food and fuel before 

 us, for seals were said to abound in the bay and heather on the islands of 

 Akkoolee-guwiak (afterwards named Pelly Bay). Such temptations were 

 not to be resisted ; so we muffled ourselves well up, and set out. It was 

 one of the worst days I ever travelled in, and I could not take the 

 bearings of our route more than once or twice." At length, after a march 

 of twelve miles, Eae reached the frozen shores, and after a further walk of 

 six miles across sea-ice, encamped on the sheltered side of the nearest of a 

 group of islands. " All the party, even the Eskimos, had got severely frost- 

 bitten in the face, but as it was not much more than skin deep, this gave 

 us little concern. When our house was nearly built, a search was commenced 

 among the snow for heather, and we were so fortunate as to procure enough 

 in an hour and a half to cook us some pemmican and flour, in the form of a 

 kind of soup or pottage. We were all very glad to get into our blankets as 

 soon as possible. , . . Notwithstanding that I carried my watch next 

 my skin, the cold stopped it." 



After one day's rest, Eae set out with two of his party for the purpose 



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