THE WORLD OF ICE. 235

symptoms that the doctor began to fear there would
soon be a breach in their numbers.

Meanwhile Saunders and his fifteen men trudged
steadily to the southward, dragging their sledge behind
them. The ice-floes, however, turned out to be very
rugged and hummocky, and retarded them so much
that they made but slow progress until they passed
the Red-Snow Valley, and doubled the point beyond it.
Here they left the floes, and took to the natural high-
way afforded by the ice-belt, along which they sped
more rapidly, and arrived at the Esquimau village in
the course of about five hours.

Here all was deserted and silent. Bits of seal and
walrus hide and bones and tusks were scattered about
in all directions, but no voices issued from the dome-
shaped huts of snow.

“They're the likest things to bee-skeps I ever saw,”
remarked Saunders, as he and his party stood contem-
plating the little group of huts. “And they con’t
seem to care much for big doors.”

Saunders referred here to the low tunnels, varying
from three to twelve fect, that formed the entrance to
each hut.

“Mayhap there’s some o’ them asleep inside,” sug-
gested Tom Green, the carpenter's mate ; “suppose we
go in and see,”

“T daresay ye’re no far wrong,” replied the second
mate, to whom the idea secmed to be a new one.
“Go in, Davie Summers, ye’re a wee chap, and can
bend your back better than the most 0’ us.”