We often came upon an immense body of
drakes sitting upon the edge of an ice-floe, looking very much like a
regiment of hussars at a distance drawn up in line of battle. The duck
is not so gaudy as her husband. She is quite contented in a full suit
of mottled brown and olive gray, presenting a texture on the back
somewhat similar to the canvas-back species of Chesapeake Bay. About
half-past ten o'clock in the evening, Toolooah and I walked up to the
crest of a ridge, north of camp, to see if there were any points still
to the north of us in this meridian. We found the coast bearing off
well toward the eastward, and then toward the north-east, and knew it
to be the upper coast of Franklin Point. We also saw a reindeer, which
Toolooah shot before returning to camp.
When we left Franklin Point, the four white men of the party kept upon
the land near the coast, and left the sled in charge of the Inuits to
follow along the shore ice. The snow was entirely off the ridges, and
only lay in great patches of soft slush in the valleys and upon
occasional marshes. We spread out on the land, so as to cover as much
ground in our search as possible, moving along like a line of
skirmishers, with instructions that in case we saw anything that we did
not understand, or which required further investigation, to make
signals to assemble.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132