134 



ARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



do. But, as "necessity is the mother of invention," I at length 

 bethought me of a plan. If I had a line long enough to allow of 

 a stone attached to it being thrown into the boat, all would prob- 

 ably be right. But I had no line. What then could I do ? Pres- 

 ently an idea struck me. The telescope-case, containing a spy- 

 glass (which swung to my side), had a long leathern strap. My ma- 

 rine (opera) glass was also pendent from my neck by a piece of 

 green curtain-cord. The native boots on my feet were made fast 

 by strong thongs of sealskin. Quickly these were tied together 

 and made into a line of some twenty feet long. To this a moder- 

 ately heavy stone was attached, and with a good throw I man- 

 aged to cast it into the boat. With a steady, gentle pull, the 

 boat was once more within reach, and my Esquimaux companion 

 and myself able to rejoin the living world ! 



It is said that "our lives often hang upon a brittle thread!" 

 True, indeed. Certainly it was something like it in the present 

 case, and I believe there can be no impropriety in saying that 

 mine and my little Esquimaux's depended for once upon a strong 

 shoestring ! 



Another boat adventure may be here worth narrating. About 

 a month after the previous occurrence I went on " Look-out" Isl- 

 and to spend the day making observations, etc. Two young Es- 

 quimaux accompanied me ; but, though the place where I landed 

 was only about half a mile south of the ship, we were some time 

 getting there, and on arrival I found, from the high breakers 

 ashore, it would be better to send the boat back. The troubled 

 sea was such that in a little time the boat, if left there, would have 

 been pounded to pieces. I wrote a note to the ship, asking for 

 one of the working boats to call for me at evening. As the two 

 boys went off in the boat, no small anxiety was caused by wit- 

 nessing the difficulty and delay they experienced in reaching the 

 ship. And no wonder. The boat they had to manage was 

 twenty-eight feet long and six feet beam, and this to take across 

 a channel where the sea is often very considerable. However, 

 the tide helped them, and in time they got alongside. 



In the evening one of our whale-boats came for me under 

 charge of Mr. Kogers, who also found much difficulty in approach- 

 ing any place where I could get on board. He neared a rock 

 upon which I stepped, but instantly found myself slipping. I had 

 in hand and about my person sextants, artificial horizon, nautical 

 and surveying books, tape measurer, etc., etc., and there I was, 



