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THE EAST EFFORT. 
165 
only begging me to watch the poor animals’ feet, as 
the famine had nearly exterminated their stock. 
The month of May had come. Metek, less confidin 
because less trustworthy than Kalutunah, did not brin 
his dogs, and my own exhausted team was in almost 
daily requisition to bring in supplies of food from Etah. 
Every thing admonished me that the time was at hand 
when we must leave the brig and trust our fortunes to 
the floes. Our preparations were well advanced, and 
the crew so far restored to health that all but three or 
four could take some part in completing them. 
Still, I could not allow myself to pass away from our 
region of search without a last effort to visit the farther 
shores of the channel. Our communications with the 
Esquimaux, and some successful hunts of our own, had 
given us a stock of provisions for at least a week in 
advance. I conferred with my officers, made a full dis¬ 
tribution of the work to be performed in my absence, 
and set out once more, with Morton for my only com¬ 
panion. We took with us the light sledge, adding the 
two borrowed dogs to our team, but travelling ourselves 
on foot. Our course was to be by the middle ice, and 
our hope that we might find it free enough from hum- • 
mocks to permit us to pass. 
My journal, written after our return, gives nothing 
but a series of observations going to verify and com¬ 
plete my charts. We struggled manfully to force our 
way through,— days and nights of adventurous ex¬ 
posure and recurring disaster,—and at last found our 
to to 
