n, nine Eskimos, and fifty-four dogs. They were all to go south
along the coast to Cape Union, then cross the channel to Cape Brevoort,
Marvin, with his men and supporting parties, going north to Cape Bryant
for a month of tidal observations, the captain and his men going south
along the ice of Newman Bay and on to the Polaris Promontory to hunt.

The following day, Dr. Goodsell and Borup, each with his party of
Eskimos and dogs, started by way of Cape Belknap, the doctor to hunt in
Clements Markham Inlet, Borup to hunt in the region of the first glacier
north of Lake Hazen. No such extensive field work had ever before been
attempted by any arctic expedition, the radius of territory covered
being about ninety miles in all directions from our winter quarters.

While distributing material for the spring sewing among the Eskimo women
in the forward deck house and in the box houses and snow igloos on
shore, I learned that some of the Eskimo men felt somewhat shaky about
going north again on the ice of the polar sea. They had not forgotten
the narrow escape we had had in recrossing the "big lead" on the return
journey from the "farthest north" of 1906. Though I felt confident of my
ability to handle them when the time came, still, I realized that we
might have trouble with them yet. But I would not permit myself to worry
about the outcome.

The first of the January hunting parties, Dr. Goodsell's, came in on the
11th. They had had no luck, though they had seen fresh tracks of
musk-oxen. Borup came in the next morning with eighty-three hares, and
an interesting story. They were right up against the glacier when they
came across a whole colony of the little white arctic animals. He said
there must have been nearly a hundred of them. The arctic hares are not
wild; they will come so near to the hunter that he can almost grasp them
with his hand. They have not learned the fear of man, because in their
wilds man is practically unknown. Borup and the Eskimos surrounded the
hares, until finally they got so near to them that instead of using any
more ammunition they knocked the creatures over the heads with the butts
of their rifles.

One day, during this hunting trip, Borup and his Eskimos became confused
and were unable to find their igloo for twenty-four hours. The
saw-knives, essential in constructing a snow igloo, had been left
behind, and none of the men had even an ordinary knife which might have
been used as a substitute.