314 ARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



and covered with drift, while the gale was beating around, and 

 roaring almost with a voice of thunder. So thick and fast did 

 the snow come down that we could not see a dozen yards before 

 us. Yet here did Koodloo — as most Innuits can — sleep away as 

 undisturbed by the storm as if in his tent. Here a great danger 

 threatened us. This gale might break up the ice ; and if so, and 

 we were encamped on an island, escape would be impossible, for 

 we had no boat. The wind was so furious that we could hardly 

 stand erect, and already it was tearing up the ice in all directions 

 about the main bay. It was an awkward position, and one that I 

 had anticipated. But it was necessary immediately to prepare 

 some shelter, and accordingly we selected a spot on a point of 

 low land, north of and near Dillon Mountain, where Innuits evi- 

 dently had erected their tupics very many years before. Bones 

 of seal and walrus, fragments of wood, and circles of stones, show- 

 ed the dwelling-places of Esquimaux who had lived there before 

 the land became abhorred. 



The erection of our tent was a matter of great difficulty. One 

 of us had to stand up before the blast to break its force, another 

 to erect the tupic, and the third to try to make it stand. Placing 

 the covering over the tent-poles was a toil especially arduous. 

 The wind seemed to press with a force of tons. Flap, flap went 

 the canvas, beating us about, and giving us such bruises that sev- 

 eral times I thought it impossible to get through with the task. 

 But at length it was accomplished. All the crevices were filled 

 with moss, so as to render the admission of fine snow nearly im- 

 possible ; and thus, in the teeth of a remarkably heavy gale, we 

 finally succeeded in getting as much shelter as could be expected 

 under such circumstances. The next day, June 13th, the gale 

 continued with unabated fury to 11 A.M. Most of the time dur- 

 ing this storm we had to keep inside the tent ; and whenever we 

 did venture out, it was necessary to use great care, lest the force 

 of the wind should throw us down. That the tent stood was a 

 marvel. But stand it did, and gave us shelter until Friday the 

 14th, about 12 meridian, when we resumed our homeward route. 



Our journey was comparatively rapid. We arrived at Sylvia 

 Island at 10 P.M., without any obstacle save in rounding Cape 

 Daly, though the seaward ice was any thing but safe ; and after 

 resting and partaking of coffee prepared with a tent-pole for fuel, 

 we made a direct course for the ship. Now came the danger. 

 Every where the ice was cracked, or moving, or gone ! We care- 



