to the factor at the Post, Mr. Bell,
and all went on board the Julia as soon as she arrived, to report and
relieve in a measure the anxiety of the professor and the boys.

[Anxious waiting] The day appointed for meeting the river party was
the day on which we reached Rigolette, August 25th, and so a sharp
lookout was kept for the two remaining members of the party, on whom,
now, the failure or success of that part of the expedition rested. As
they did not appear, we moved up to a cove near Eskimo Island, at the
eastern end of Lake Melville, the following day, and there spent four
days of anxious waiting. Some dredging and geological work was done,
and an attempt was made to examine more carefully the remains of the
Eskimo village before referred to on Eskimo Island, which some
investigators had thought the remains of a Norse settlement. The turf
was too tough to break through without a plow, and we had to give it
up, doing just enough to satisfy ourselves that the remains were
purely Eskimo.

All the work attempted was done in a half-hearted manner, for our
thoughts were with Cary and Cole, and as the days went by and they did
not appear, but were more and more overdue, our suspense became almost
unbearable. Added to this was the thought that we could wait but a few
days more at the longest, without running the danger of being
imprisoned all winter, and for that we were poorly prepared.

The first day of September we moved back to Rigolette to get supplies
and make preparations for our voyage home, as it was positively unsafe
to remain any longer. The Gulf of St. Lawrence is an ugly place to
cross at any time in September, for in that month the chances are
rather against a small vessel's getting across safely.

It was decided that the expedition must start home on Wednesday, the
2nd, and that a relief party should be left for Cary and Cole. With
heavy hearts the final preparations were made, and many were the looks
cast at the narrows where they would be seen, were they to heave in
sight.

At last, about 3.30 p.m. Tuesday, the lookout yelled, "Sail ho! in the
narrows," and we all jumped for the rigging. They had come, almost at
the last hour of our waiting, and with a feeling of relief such as we
shall seldom again experience we welcomed them aboard and heard their
story.

* * * * *

ON BOARD THE JULIA A. DECKER,