WE MEET THE ICE 
21 
and the kayak. The former is shaped not unlike 
an ordinary rowboat and is large enough to hold 
from ten to twenty persons. Over the framework 
are stretched sealskins, sewed together with deer 
sinew, which makes the boat water-tight. The skin- 
boat will stand a lot of wear and tear. The kayak, 
on the other hand, is small, pointed at both ends 
and completely covered over except for an open¬ 
ing in the middle, where the single occupant sits. 
The kayak is used for hunting and as it is small 
and light can be easily placed on a sledge and 
drawn over the ice. 
During the early morning of August 7 the ice 
began to move us eastward around Point Barrow, 
where we met a current from the southeast and be¬ 
gan to drift towards the northwest, until by the 
next day we were ten miles from land. We were 
still unable to use our engines and the ice was 
closely packed, though it had been smashed and 
pounded by its constant impact against the 
grounded floe along the shore. While we were 
still jammed in the ice we took the opportunity of 
filling up our tanks from a big floe not far away 
on which there was a lake of fresh water where the 
sun and the rain had melted the ice. 
Early on the ninth we got clear of the ice at last 
and steamed eastward along the shore, free for the 
first time for many days. The ice was closely 
