ADVENTUEES BY LAND AND SEA 



seas broken, we all sprang out, and with great exertion suc- 

 ceeded in landing the boats in safety. 



The country here was entirely barren and rocky, compara- 

 tively level, and of a most dreary aspect, without a sign of 

 vegetation. The storm continued for two days longer, during 

 which time we were obliged to remain on shore. As our pro- 

 visions were now about exhausted, attention was chiefly de- 

 voted to hunting, but all that could be found was a small duck 

 and two gulls. The broken remains of an Eskimo kyack 

 were found upon the shore, and these were carefully gathered 

 up so that a kettle of water might be boiled and our gulls 

 cooked for supper. 



On the morning of the 20th, the wind having fallen, camp 

 was called at four o'clock and without breakfast our journey 

 resumed. Later in the day each man had a small piece of 

 dried meat, quite insufficient to satisfy his. appetite; but, 

 hungry though we were, the motto plainly written on every 

 man's face was, " Speed the paddle." Thus we pressed on 

 for two days, making good progress ; but having scarcely any- 

 thing to eat, the work began to tell on us. 



On the 22nd we were again storm-bound by a heavy gale, 

 with snow, which lasted four days. During this time we 

 suffered considerably from the violence of the storm as well 

 as from want of food. As soon as it had abated sufficiently, 

 which was not until the morning of the 25th, two of the men, 

 Pierre and Louis, were sent out with the shot-guns to hunt 

 for food, and with our rifles my brother and I set out for 

 an all-day tramp into the interior. We found our camp was 

 situated near the end of a long, narrow point, at the back of 

 which was Neville Bay. The point consisted in places of 

 extended fields of water-washed boulders, and in order to 

 reach the mainland we had to cross these. The necessity of 

 doing this, together with the fact that we were walking with 

 weakened limbs into the teeth of a gale, made travelling 

 extremely difficult. 



173 



