Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/42

 CHAPTER II.

my return, June 15th, 1861, I found Innuit visitors at the ship. The only two men left on board were quite well. I was also much pleased to see that all my own apparel had been put in order, and such as needed it washed by Tookoolito, who had occasionally visited the vessel during my absence, and had thus thoughtfully provided for my comfort.

The following few days I devoted wholly to resting myself and preparing for my long-desired voyage to King William's Land, which I intended to make as soon as I could obtain the means of prosecuting it, and the ice would permit.

On the 17th another heavy gale burst upon us, which continued until the 20th. It blew hard, but there was no danger just now to the ship, for Rescue Harbour was still paved over with thick, solid ice; yet she trembled through her whole frame, and her masts quivered like reeds. In the outer bay, seaward, the ice was broken into innumerable fragments. On account of the storm, the natives on board, who had come from Cape True, could not return, and those on shore I perceived to be suffering from a general wreck of their habitations. Hardly a tupic was standing. The gale had razed them to the ground. My late companions, Ebierbing and Koodloo, set out on