Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/33

14 zero. At 12 midnight it was one degree west of zero. At 3.30 of the 12th it was one degree east of zero point; but more about this in its proper place.

On the same day, the 11th, half a mile north-west, on the top of the mountain in the rear of our camp, I took bearings of various prominent places; and while taking the angle of an island five miles distant to the south, Ebierbing and Koodloo with me, the former, looking around with the glass, suddenly exclaimed, "Ninoo! Ninoo!" pointing, at the same time, in the direction of the very island I was sighting. In an instant Koodloo rushed off to harness up the dogs, and I after him, Ebierbing remaining behind for a moment to watch the bear's movements. Presently I decided upon returning to continue my work and let both the Innuits go in chase. Reascending to the spot I had left, I continued to the northward and westward till I had ascended a still higher mountain, the table-topped "Mount Warwick" of Frobisher. There I remained for hours, with changes of the atmosphere so tantalizing that it vexed me greatly. One moment there was a beautiful sky, the next everything was enveloped in thick fog. So it continued, calm as a summer's day at home, not a cloud in the sky as the fog lifted, the sun shining brightly for a moment, and anon darkened by impenetrable vapour. I was greatly disappointed. I had fixed a capital point by sun to take my angles of various mountains, bays, headlands, &c., but, in consequence of the state of the weather, was obliged to leave my work incomplete. In descending to a lower point, I distinctly saw Meta Incognita, the fog having dispersed in that direction. Also I saw Resolution Island, which bore S. 12° W. (true). I returned to the camp shortly after, but Ebierbing and Koodloo had not yet returned. While waiting for the two Innuits, I gathered some fuel, kindled a fire, and filled the tea-kettle to make coffee. Presently I heard the crack of my rifle, and concluded that another seal was killed, little imagining what had actually occurred. But near midnight, when Ebierbing and Koodloo