uthward, what
seemed to be low thickets of stunted evergreen,--fir or spruce. From
this Raed argued that fuel might be obtained by a party travelling
through the country; and, from that, went on to picture these thickets
to abound with deer and hares.

CHAPTER XIII.

More Salt.--Some Big Hailstones.--A Bright Aurora.--The
Lookout.--An _Oomiak_ heaves in Sight.--The Huskies land on a
Neighboring Island.--Shall we join them?--A Bold, Singular,
not to say Infamous, Proposition from Kit.--Some Sharp
Talk.--Kit's Project carried by Vote.

During the 29th, 30th, and 31st (Sunday) of the month, we were
employed much as upon the 27th; viz., boiling for salt, and egging
along the cliffs. We wanted to get as much salt on hand as possible;
and, by untiring industry, succeeded in getting about a quart ahead.
But to do this we had been obliged to keep up a smart fire, which had
consumed nearly all the walrus-blubber from both carcasses. Where to
get the next supply of fuel was an open question. No more sea-horses
had showed themselves. We concluded that this pair were all that had
been in the vicinity.

On the night of the 31st, a terrible storm of wind, thunder, and hail,
swept across the straits from the north-west. Raed picked up
hailstones in front of our shelter, after the cloud had passed, which
were two inches and a half in diameter. They struck down upon the
rocks with almost incredible violence. Any ordinary canvas-tent would
have been riddled by them: but our tough walrus-skin bore the brunt,
and sheltered us completely. The sea, during the hail-fall, seemed to
boil with a loud peculiar roar, and was white with bubbles and foam.
There was a very bright aurora the following night. The next morning
was fair; but a ghastly greenish haze gave the sky an aspect of
strange pallor. Somehow we felt uneasy under it. After breakfast, Kit
and I went up to the top of the ledges overlooking the straits to the
north, east, and west, to see if we could discover any vessels. Some
of us used generally to make our way up here every four or five hours
to take a long look. For an hour we sat gazing off on the heaving
expanse, flecked white with ice-patch, and bounded far to the north by
a low line of black mountains. The breadth of the straits here was not
far from seventeen leagues.

"Seven days since we were _retired_ here," Kit remarked at length.

Seven days! It seemed seven ages.

"Kit, what do you t