Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/124

Rh a distance of one hundred nautical miles. A line of islands—their number legion—shoot down from "Frobisher's Farthest" to the Kingaite coast. At noon and afterward the weather was exceedingly beautiful, and the water as smooth as a mirror. Kingaite side was showing itself in varying tints of blue, its even mountain range covered with snow, throwing a distinct shadow across the surface of the bay. The sun was warm, and yet casting a subdued light on all around. The rocks and mountains upon our right were bare, and of a red hue, while far to the southeast were the eternal snows of the Grinnell glacier. We encamped, as before, among the friendly Innuits who had accompanied us, and on the next morning (August 23d), at an early hour, I went by myself for a walk among the hills. Mountains near the coast on that side of the bay had disappeared, the land being comparatively low and covered with verdure. I was delighted to find this such a beautiful country; the waters of the bay were teeming with animal life, and I thought that here was indeed the place to found a colony, if anyone should ever renew the attempt in which Frobisher failed. Before I came back from my walk I perceived the camp-fires sending up their clouds of smoke, and I was soon after partaking of a hearty breakfast, cooked and served in Innuit fashion. Abundance was now the rule. Seals and blubber were so plentiful that quantities were left behind at our encampment. Even whole seals, with the exception of the skins, were frequently abandoned. Thus these children of the icy North live—one day starving, and the next having so much food that they care not to carry it away. We started at 10 and passed in sight of more low land, some of which was covered with grass. Seals and ducks were so numerous that it was almost an incessant hunt—more from habit, on the part of the natives, than from necessity. The signs of reindeer being in the neighbourhood were such that the males of my boat's crew landed to seek