The tribes they pass through on these journeys are
so connected by marriage as to be almost like one large tribe, so that
they are all the time in the land of their friends.
Twice since leaving the Inuit camp in Wilmot Bay the dogs had an
interval of eight days between meals, and were in no condition for hard
work. That they could live and do any work at all seemed marvellous. I
am constrained to believe that the Esquimau dog will do more work, and
with less food, than any other draught animal existing. On the night of
the 20th Lieutenant Schwatka observed a meridian culmination of the
moon, which showed in latitude 67 deg. 32 min. 42 sec. north, only
three miles from our reckoning. It is a difficult task to make
astronomical observations with a sextant in a temperature thirty-eight
degrees below zero, or seventy below the freezing-point, as it was this
night. It is not pleasant to sit still for any length of time in such
weather. A thin skim of ice over the surface of the kerosene oil used
for an artificial horizon has to be constantly removed by the warm
breath of an assistant. The sextant glasses become obscure from the
freezing upon them of the breath of the observer, and can only be
cleaned with the warm fingers, which they blister in return for such
kindness. These are some of the obstacles to determining one's position
astronomically in an Arctic winter; while in summer, there being no
night, one is dependent upon the sun alone.
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