Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/427



THE ARCTIC SPRING—SNOW DISAPPEARING.—PLANTS SHOW SIGNS OF LIFE.—RETURN OF THE BIRDS.—CHANGE IN THE SEA.—REFITTING THE SCHOONER.—THE ESQUIMAUX.—VISIT TO KALUTUNAH.—KALUTUNAH'S ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAU TRADITIONS.—HUNTING-GROUNDS CONTRACTED BY THE ACCUMULATION OF ICE.—HARDSHIPS OF THEIR LIFE.—THEIR SUBSISTENCE.—THE RACE DWINDLING AWAY.—VISIT TO THE GLACIER.—RE-SURVEY OF THE GLACIER.—KALUTUNAH CATCHING BIRDS.—A SNOW-STORM AND A GALE.—THE MID-DAY OF THE ARCTIC SUMMER.

Having determined to be guided by circumstances, as set forth in the last chapter, I had now only to await the breaking up of the ice and the liberation of the schooner,—an incident which I could not anticipate wholly without anxiety, owing to our exposure to the southwest rendering the disruption liable to come in the midst of a heavy swell from the sea that would set us adrift in a rolling pack.

The spring had already fairly set in when I returned from the north, and each day added to the encroachment of the water upon the ice. A wonderful change had taken place since my departure in April The temperature had risen steadily from 35° below zero to as many degrees above it; the wintery cloak of whiteness which had so long clothed the hills and valleys was giving way under the influence of the sun's warm rays; and torrents of the melted snow were dashing wildly down the rugged gorges, or bounding in cascades from the lofty cliffs; and the air was everywhere filled with the pleasing roar of falling waters. A little lake had formed in a basin be