PERILOUS PASSAGE ON THE ICE. 337 



life. The bluff stands out boldly to view whenever any one may 

 be navigating in or near Field Bay. " French Head' 1 ' 1 is a monu- 

 ment as enduring as the everlasting mountains. 



At 4 P.M. we reached the ice-floe, and there re-lashed the boat 

 upon a sledge sent forward ready for our arrival. The ice was 

 very much worse than it had been the previous morning, and we 

 fell through it in many places. Finally we reached the ship at 8 

 P.M., greatly fatigued with the laborious exertions we had made. 



At this time the heat was almost overpowering. On the 25th 

 of July, at 2 P.M., the mercury stood at 95° in the sun, and no 

 work could be done except when we were clad in the lightest gar- 

 ments. What a contrast to the period only a few weeks past, 

 when my reindeer furs were needed. 



The day after my return to the ship I visited the tupics on 

 shore, and took sundry articles of my apparel for Tookoolito and 

 the other women to put in order for me, as they generally did. 

 On the way I had far more difficulty than I anticipated. Two of 

 the sailors had brought me in a boat as far as the broken ice 

 would permit, and then I proceeded toward the shore by moving 

 from one piece of ice to another. But it soon became evident 

 that there was much dangerous work ahead. The ice around the 

 shores and about the harbor and bay was now disappearing like 

 dew before the morning sun. I was indeed surprised to find the 

 changes that had taken place within one day. Several wide 

 chasms between boulders of shore-ice had to be crossed, and my 

 leaps were often made with more or less danger of getting a down- 

 fall into the briny deep. Now and then I was obliged to throw 

 my pack in advance, and then go back for a good run, so as to 

 make my flying leap sure to carry me over the yawning gulf.. 

 For a full hour did I work thus to accomplish a distance of per- 

 haps twenty rods. Now I would be upon a small piece of ice, 

 pushing along as though it were a boat. Soon as I reached an- 

 other piece I would have to run on to it ; thence to another, leap- 

 ing cracks and channels that would certainly have made my hair 

 stand on end at an earlier period of my life. At length I reached 

 the last piece between myself and the shore. It was divided from 

 the beach by a breach of some considerable distance ; but there 

 was no alternative ; leap it I must. Therefore I first threw my 

 pack ashore, which went into a pool of water on the rocks, and 

 then, with a good run, made a great spring, which fortunately just 

 carried me on to terra firma. 



Y 



