70 
MANILLA EXHAUSTED — AWAHTOK. 
hausted and the cold was excessive, and they wisely 
returned to the brig. 
“ . To-day we have finished burning our 
last Manilla hawser for fuel, the temperature remain¬ 
ing at the extraordinary mean of —52°. Our next 
resort must be to the trebling of the brig : Petersen— 
what remains of him, for the man’s energies are gone— 
is now at work cutting it off. It is a hard trial for me. 
I have spared neither exertion, thought, nor suffering, 
to save the sear-worthiness of our little vessel, hut all to 
no end: she can never bear us to the sea. Want of 
provisions alone, if nothing else, ■will drive us from 
her; for this solid case of nine-foot ice cannot possibly 
give way until the late changes of fall, nor then unless 
a hot summer and a retarded winter afterward allow 
the winds to break up its iron casing. 
“ March 16, Friday.—We have just a scant two 
day’s allowance of meat for the sick. Hans has done 
his best; but there is nothing to be found on the hills : 
and I fear that a long hunting-journey to the south is 
our only resource. 
“ Awahtok: I have often mentioned him as a plump, 
good-natured fellow. He was one of my attaches; by 
which I mean one of the many who stick to me like a 
plaster, in order to draw or withdraw a share of the 
iron nails, hoops, buttons, and other treasures which I 
represent. Awahtok always struck me as a lazy, plea¬ 
sant sort of fellow, a man who would be glad to bask 
in sunshine if he could find any. He has a young wife 
of eighteen, and he himself is but twenty-two. His 
