It had been decided that they should take a single large sledge,
having broad runners, and a double team of dogs--ten in all. On this,
therefore, was finally lashed a great load of provisions, frozen walrus
meat for dog food, sleeping bags, the three all-important cooking
utensils of the wilderness--kettle, fry-pan, and teapot--an axe, and
Cabot's bag of specimens. With this outfit Yim was to conduct them
over the first half of their 400-mile journey, or to Indian Harbour,
where, through a letter from the missionary, they expected to procure a
fresh team, renew their supply of provisions, and obtain another guide,
who should go with them to Battle Harbour.
When the time for starting arrived, the entire population of the new
settlement turned out to see them off and help get their heavily laden
sledge up the steep ascent from the beach. At the crest of the bluffs
the men fired a parting salute from their smooth-bore guns, the women
and children uttered shrill cries of farewell, and the missionary gave
them his final blessing, Yim cracked his eighteen-foot whiplash like a
pistol shot, shouted to his dogs, and the yelping team sprang forward.
Our lads gave a fond backward glance at their loved schooner, so far
below them that she looked like a toy boat, and then, with hearts too
full for words, they faced the vast white wilderness outspread like a
frozen sea before them.
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