All found their eyes more or less affected excepting Frederick. Ralston’s were so bad that he was sent on in advance, led by Ellis. He walked almost the whole way with his eyes closed. Lynn held on to the upstanders of the sledge, and thus found his way.
On the first day of June, Ralston and Lynn went in advance, led by Ellis and Ellison. They could not see at all, and, as their guides carried the guns and each had his man made fast by a strap, they looked very much like a party of prisoners. At Watercourse Bay they met Lieutenant Greely, who had come out to meet them, and was well satisfied with the result of the expedition, and soon after they reached Fort Conger.
Lieutenant Lockwood not only received many hearty congratulations from his companions, but even the weather, as if in sympathy with the general gladness, became bright and cheerful. The important business of working out the latitude that had been attained was now proceeded with. Efforts were made to verify the prismatic compass which was serviceable, but had a limited range. Much of the ground around the station was bare of snow, and, as the temperature was rising rapidly, Lockwood felt as if he would like to be off again on a wild tramp. When he said something about certain sledge operations in the future, Greely replied, “If you are content to go, I will give you all the help I can.”
XIII.
WAITING AND WATCHING.
To a man of Lockwood’s character, the return to the station did not mean that idleness was to be the order of the day, and while yet suffering from rheumatic pains in his back, shoulders, legs, feet, and joints, he began to mark out a trip for himself through Lady Franklin Bay. In the mean time, some of the men were off trying to obtain fresh meat, Frederick killing a hare and Jans a seal weighing over five hundred pounds. Kislingbury amused himself with a pet owl, which delighted him with a present of eggs. On the 9th of June, the people at the station celebrated the birthday of their companion Long by a good dinner, and on the following day Lockwood, accompanied by his friends Brainard and Frederick, started with a dog-train for his proposed tramp. They made their first halts at Basil Norris Bay and at Sun Bay, and traveling over a level bed of what had once been a fiord, thence passed on to Stony Point, and then to Miller’s Island, where they encamped. Although they saw a number of seals, they succeeded in killing only a couple of hares and a brace of brants. Their next stopping-place was Keppel’s Head, the route being very wet, in fact, almost a continuous lake. Having nothing to wear but his moccasins, Lockwood’s feet were saturated three minutes after starting, and became so cold that he thought they would freeze. The pools were sometimes so deep as to wet the load on the sledge. However, the dogs made good time, and they reached Keppel’s Head at 11 P. M. Here the traveling became much better, and they were able to avoid a good many of the pools.
Passing Keppel’s Head, they kept a sharp lookout for Hillock Depot, where Lieutenant Archer, R. N., had left a large number of rations. They searched for some time before finding any signs, but finally found the cache, and near by some pieces of United States hard bread, and a little bag of American tea. This was interesting, as proving that to have been the farthest that Long attained, although he claimed to have reached the head of the fiord. The unpleasant task then devolved on Lockwood of taking him down a peg or two. Lieutenant Archer was a week reaching this place, Hillock Depot, half-way up the fiord, which is about sixty miles long. The scenery is grand. High cliffs, generally nearly vertical, ran along the shores everywhere. Whenever they looked inland they saw a lofty mass of snow-covered mountains. All this was so common, however, in all the region, that it was only when new that it was appreciated. Lockwood and Brainard had a good laugh at Long’s expense, and then turned into the two-man summer sleeping-bag, made of two blankets, trimmed off so as to weigh no more than necessary, and inclosed in another bag of light canvas. Their breakfast consisted of corned beef, baked beans, tea, hard bread, and butter—a very fine repast. Lockwood and Brainard both thought that this kind of traveling did not pay on a “picnic” excursion, but, as they had started to go to the head of the fiord, they did not like to turn back. The ice promised to be worse on their return, and this, and Lockwood’s lame foot, and the lameness of one of the dogs, decided him to return. Leaving camp on return, they soon reached Keppel’s Head, and afterward Basil Norris Bay, where they camped, and decided to remain a day or two and have a hunt for musk-oxen. Mud, water, and “sludge,” as well as Lockwood’s lameness, proved a drawback to his success; but Frederick returned from his tramp, bringing along a quarter of a musk-ox, having killed two and wounded a third, he said. They seemed to have cost two dozen cartridges, and he had probably stood off at a distance and bombarded them.
Brainard returned after him. He had been up the vale as far as the lake, and had seen a few geese and a rabbit. He brought back a “skua” bird and some Esquimaux relics; had seen several circles of stone, marking the summer camps of these people, and picked up a good many bones, etc. All had something to eat, when the two started out with the dog-team for the musk-oxen killed by Frederick. Then came on a heavy rain, lasting for several hours, while the snow and ice were fast disappearing. This was the first rain they had seen in the country.
During their absence from the station, to which they returned with their game, seven musk-oxen had been killed and four calves caught alive. The men had had an exciting time. The animals formed a hollow square with the calves inside, and did some charging before they were all down.
The calves had been put in a pen a short distance from the house, were very tame, and it was supposed little difficulty would be found in raising them. They ate almost anything.
On the 17th, Lockwood expressed his feelings as follows: “I find myself oppressed with ennui, caused, I suppose, by the present monotonous existence following the activity of my life since the early spring.”