From these people we expected to get information
concerning the other sleds, and also to get a large quantity of fish for
food for man and beast. We found some fish caches near our camp, and
some sled tracks and footprints about one mile and a half farther down
the river, which Joe said led a long distance. The day after our arrival
we appropriated one large cache to feed our starving dogs, and then
started the next day for their camp to pay for the fish and buy more.
But shortly after all the men started, one of the women ran out and
called us back, saying that Inuits were coming to the igloo. We hastened
back and found three young men of the Ooqueesiksillik tribe, who had
found their cache robbed and traced the tracks to our igloo. Joe
explained the case to them, and said we had knives to pay for the fish
and to buy more, which they said would be gladly accepted, and they
would tell their people to bring us more fish that night. We were
astonished when they said they had neither seen nor heard of any others
of our party.
That night, after the igloo was closed and we were eating our evening
meal, we heard a sled drive up to the door and supposed our fish had
arrived; but what was our joy when we recognized Koumania's voice
driving the dogs, and then heard Henry at the door of our igloo. We
then learned that they had reached the Dangerous Rapids only that
afternoon, and while building the igloos the three young men we had
seen in the morning returned and reported having seen us up the river.
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