372 



RECREA TION. 



The moon in the morning was still in the 



sk y> 



But the mountains in day were aglow, 

 And the girl by my side — the blue-eyed, my 

 bride, 

 Sang, but not of the long ago. 



Refrain. 



She sang me a song of the West, the West, 

 Swept sorrow and worry away; 



She stirred up my heart with her tuneful 

 art, 

 And her song of the strong to-day. 



ADRIFT ON AN ICE FLOE. 



PETER AWICK. 



On a bright day in June, a party of 5 

 Arctic travelers and 3 Eskimo hunters left 

 the shore, to make their way over the ice 

 floes to a ship, seen some miles away. She 

 was steaming about to prevent getting 

 caught between the immense floes, which 

 were being twisted by the tides. 



Between the floes were leads or lanes of 

 water. These we crossed, with our dogs 

 and sleds, by traveling along the leads un- 

 til a loose " pan " of ice was found. Upon 

 this we clambered, when it was pushed 

 away from the solid ice with harpoons and 

 poles. It was slow work crossing, but 

 gradually we would near the opposite side, 

 using the harpoon shafts for paddles. When 

 within about the distance a walrus-line 

 would reach, one of the Eskimo would coil 

 his line, made from seal skin, and, fastening 

 one end to his spear-handle, would throw 

 it, to stick it into the ice. Holding to the 

 other end of the line, as soon as the spear 

 was fast, he would begin to pull, very gen- 

 tly, just enough to keep our raft moving. 

 Safe on the floe, the Eskimo whipped up 

 the dogs. 



In this way several leads were crossed. 

 After driving over an immense floe in 

 which were several icebergs, we arrived at 

 a very wide lead. In vain we searched for 

 a loose piece of ice. The ship appeared to 

 be steaming away, and the lead was get- 

 ting wider and wider. We tried to retreat, 

 but found we had drifted some distance 

 from the last floe, and the pan which had 

 served for a raft had drifted beyond our 

 reach. 



We now realized that -we were prisoners 

 on an ice-floe, drifting out to sea. 



When we had been out for nearly a day, 

 we thought it best to try to sleep. The 

 sun was warm; at this season, shining 

 brightly throughout the 24 hours. After a 

 hasty luncheon — we had little food — the 

 dogs were secured; then, planting the har- 

 poons in the ice with signals fastened to 

 them, we lay down on the ice for a rest. 

 We hoped the ship would see the signals 

 and come to our relief. 



The rest of the party was awakened some 

 hours later by one of the Eskimo, exclaim- 

 ing: "The ship has gone!" 



Shivering, I opened my eyes and glanced 

 about. The ship was nowhere to be seen. 



The landscape had changed; the high cliffs 

 with their picturesque rocks forming fig- 

 ures of castles and men, covered here and 

 there with patches of snow, which had 

 loomed up near us when we lay down, 

 were now specks in the distance. Our big 

 ice raft was being carried out by a strong 

 current. A storm was threatening, so we 

 began to look about for shelter. The floe 

 was perhaps a mile in length, by half as 

 wide. Several icebergs were examined in 

 the hope of finding a cavern. Finally a 

 small cave, scarcely large enough for all 

 to squeeze into, was found. However, the 

 Eskimo soon built an addition with blocks 

 of snow and ice. In an hour we had a 

 comfortable shelter, with a hole through 

 which we crawled on our hands and knees. . 

 When all were in, the opening was closed 

 with a block of snow. 



The Eskimo carried on their sleds a num- 

 ber of seal and reindeer skins. These were 

 brought inside and spread around for us to 

 sleep on. We had 2 rifles and plenty of 

 ammunition; so except for food, we were 

 not badly off. One of the natives, who 

 had been out for some time, came running 

 to the opening, exclaiming: " We now 

 have plenty to eat. I have killed a seal." 



The best parts of the animal were cut off 

 and laid in a niche in the ice, away from 

 the dogs, while the refuse was fed to those 

 hungry brutes. A big piece of the seal 

 was passed through the opening, and when 

 all were in and the opening closed, we be- 

 gan, in true Eskimo style, to eat the raw 

 meat. The chunk was passed around, each 

 man cutting off a mouthful as it came to 

 him. 



The natives had several tin cans on their 

 sleds, that had been picked up at our camp 

 on shore. These, later, served for utensils 

 in which to boil meat. Water we obtained 

 from holes in the icebergs. The heat of 

 the sun was strong enough, for a few hours 

 each day, to melt the snow in the most ex- 

 posed spots. With some moss which the 

 natives had, and fat from the seal, a fire 

 was built. We now huddled together for 

 a rest. The' storm — snow and wind — had 

 begun, and the dogs on the outside howled 

 dismally. 



One by one we fell asleep. Some hours 

 later a rush of wind awakened everyone. 



