Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/338

Rh us. Besides this, the strong wind had closed the gap which we had been obliged to avoid in the morning, and we now traversed the ice as safely as though we were passing over a marbled floor. Soon afterward we came to the glare ice of Lincoln Bay, which is on this (the west) side of the Bayard Taylor Pass. Here the wind and snow played fantastic tricks with the sledge, dogs, and all our company. We were in company with the other Innuits, but Joe, myself, and Johnny Bull were footing it while passing along this bay. Had the wind been against us all would have been well, but it came quartering on our right hand and at our backs, and this caused numerous eddies and snow-wreaths. We were ahead of the sledge, intending to jump upon it as it passed. After resting a while, on it came; and, watching the opportunity, Joe and Johnny were fortunately able to spring on, but I could not. Just as I made my attempt, a terrific gust sent me whirling along for nearly a quarter of a mile over the glassy ice. Then my feet caught upon a firm snow-wreath, and I stuck fast till I gathered my senses to look round and see where I was. It was snowing fast and furiously, and what with that coming down, and that thrown upward by the wind, every object three or four fathoms distant was hidden from sight. Fortunately, the almost perpendicular side of a mountain that I had before noticed was within a distance that could be seen. From this I struck a