"King
William's Land," said I. "Oh, yes, King William's Land. Let me have
some fish put into your boat before you go." And the kind-hearted
fisherman gave us about a barrel of fine fresh cod and haddock, besides
a fifty-fathom line and some hooks. He also gave us three late
newspapers; and we sent him in return a copy of Hall's "Life Among the
Esquimaux," and some other reading matter, besides a pair of sealskin
slippers, and a fine walrus skull with the ivory tusks in it. This was
a present from Mr. Gilbert. Just as we were about leaving I turned to
Mr. Gilbert and said, "The Governor will be glad to hear the news."
"What!" said the surprised skipper, "have you got a real Governor on
board?" And then I had to explain that it was merely a title we had
bestowed upon Lieutenant Schwatka in view of the faithful care he took
of his people, though, I believe, the youngest in the party. The
incident was only amusing as showing that the captain had heard so
many strange things this morning that he was prepared to believe
anything, no matter how absurd it might appear.
The day following our visit to the fishing schooner was still foggy and
without a breath of wind stirring. We therefore availed ourselves of
the opportunity to use our fish-lines, and succeeded in securing about
fifty fine cod and haddock, besides one huge dogfish, which snapped
ferociously when hauled into the boat, and had to be despatched with a
boat-hook.
Pages:
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284