Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/48

Rh and officers into their quarters, and had an excellent breakfast put before me. Of course one of the first inquiries was about my trip to and return from the "dreaded land." This I soon answered by giving an account of what I had done, and then, my morning meal ended, I took a walk along the beach. Everywhere I found fragments of limestone in abundance, and my pockets were soon filled with specimens, which I brought home. One object of my visit to the whale dépôt was to see about preparing for my departure to King William's Land, and to consult Captain B respecting it. The boat promised me had to be made ready, and therefore I at once entered upon the subject with him. The following is an extract from the entry made in my journal at the time (Saturday, June 22d, 1861):— "Captain B says that he has been out in this bay (Frobisher) several times since coming over, and that he has been much impressed with the subject of my making my trip or voyage this summer, as expected, in a whale-boat. He thought it his duty to open the matter to me at once, announcing the conclusion he had come to, painful to him and to me. The boat which I had had made in the States, especially designed and made for my expedition to King William's Land, was a suitable one for me, but a whale-boat was unfit. Captain B continued to say that I had not any more of an outfit, provision, &c. than I should take, but that, with the crew necessary, I could not possibly carry more than a very small proportion of what I had. He found that with the boat's crew, and the three line-tubs each boat has, no additional weight could be added to navigate in such waters as he knew I would be obliged to in getting to the point of my destination. "This is a serious matter with me—one pregnant with such thoughts I cannot put upon paper. I cannot, I will not sell my life foolishly. If the loss of my expedition boat, which was well planned and strongly made, has taken from me the proper, the only judicious means of carrying out my purpose