CHAPTER XVIII 
WE LAND ON WRANGELL ISLAND 
March 12 we got away again at dawn. Me- 
Kinlay, Mamen, Kataktovick, Kerdrillo and his 
family and I went ahead of the others, with 
lightly loaded sledges, and, on account of improved 
ice conditions, made such good progress that at 
one p. m. we landed on Icy Spit, on the northeast 
side of Wrangell Island. It is perhaps easier to 
imagine than to describe our feelings of relief at 
being once again on terra firma , after two months . 
of drifting and travelling on the ice. We had had 
a hard road to travel much of the way from Ship¬ 
wreck Camp, but fortunately, since the big storm 
in the days following the departure of the advance 
party, we had had continuously fine weather, with 
good daylight and exhilarating temperatures in the 
minus forties and fifties. 
As soon as we landed we began building an igloo. 
There was plenty of driftwood scattered all about 
and Keruk gathered up a lot of it and built a fire, 
so that by the time the first of our three igloos 
was built she had some tea for us and the rest of the 
party who, coming along easily with light loads 
161 
