30 THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE KARLUK 
successful, for the seal seemed to be rather scarce. 
Occasionally, too, we got a taste of duck-shooting 
as the birds came flying along the open water on 
their way south for the winter. 
On Thursday, September 11, Wilkins, Mamen 
and I went out to an open lead after ducks. We 
took with us one of the three Peterborough canoes 
which we were bringing along to be transferred to 
the southern party at Herschel Island for use in 
navigating the small streams east of the Mackenzie. 
Dragging the canoe on a sledge to the edge 
of the lead, we made tea and had a little lunch, and 
then paddled up the lead in search of ducks. As 
we went along, we saw several seal and shot one 
which sank before we could get it. 
Soon we saw the birds flying along the landward 
edge of the ice. We crossed over and I climbed out 
of the canoe into a kind of natural “blind” formed 
of the raftered ice, while Mamen and Wilkins pad- 
died along towards the bottom of the lead. They 
met a good deal of newly formed ice, less than a 
quarter of an inch in thickness, which they had to 
smash with their paddles as they went along. 
There were plenty of birds near the bottom of the 
lead but the smashing of the ice disturbed them so 
that Mamen and Wilkins had to turn back and 
paddle over in my direction, picking out of the 
