Thankful was I that we met with no serious accident; and this was the more extraordinary considering our rate of travelling (we were only twenty hours coming from near Dr. Kane's Channel) and the dangerous character of the ice over which we had come.
As an instance of what can be accomplished in securing the means of sustaining life in the arctic regions, I will here give a few particulars bearing upon the subject, and belonging to this particular journey.
We set out with—
| 20 sea-biscuits, weight | 5 | lbs. |
| Salt-junk biscuits, weight„ | 6 | lbs.„ |
| Coffee and pepper, say | 1 | lbs.„ |
| Total provisions for the three | 11 | lbs. |
| Powder | 1 | lb. |
| Balls, in number | 30. | |
| 1 rifle, 1 gun, 2 seal spears, with lines and harpoons. |
We were away ten days, and in that time obtained—
| 1 polar bear, equal to | 1000 | lbs. |
| ookgook (largest-sized seal) | 1500 | lbs.„ |
| 9 seals | 1800 | lbs.„ |
| Making a total of | 4300 | lbs. |
—that is, over two tons of fresh meat, besides skins for clothing, and oil for fuel and light.
Most of the meat and blubber we deposited en cache, and the ookgook we left on the ice; but we were obliged to abandon all, excepting a very little blubber, and the small proportion of meat which was consumed by ourselves and the dogs. The skins we saved.
