A fierce gale, with snow, kept us in camp on that
day; but the returning party, consisting of Toolooah's family with
Equeesik, Mitcolelee and Frank, came in notwithstanding the storm, so
great was their anxiety concerning our safety and comfort. It is
needless to say that we were glad to see them, and when we heard
Toolooah shout from the other side of the hill on which our tent was
pitched, it seemed the pleasantest sound I ever heard. The Inuits had
never known white men to live alone in their country as we had, and
were afraid we were very hungry; but we relieved their anxiety in that
respect by giving them a hearty meal of cooked meat.
We learned from them that the Inuits were all on the main-land, in the
neighborhood of Thunder Cove, and that Joe had been, and still was,
very sick with rheumatism. Henry remained there with them, and
prosecuted the search of Starvation Cove, building a monument over the
remains found there, and depositing a record that Lieutenant Schwatka
had sent to him for that purpose. Before he got there, however, Joe and
a party of Netchilliks had been searching the spot, and in a pile of
stones found a small pewter medal, commemorative of the launch of the
steamer 'Great Britain', in 1843, and among the seaweed some
pieces of blanket and a skull. This was all that could be seen at this
memorable spot.
Pages:
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172