VIEW OF THE STERN
ESKIMO HOUSES AT KOOKAN
CHAPTER XIII
ETAH TO NEW YORK
As we left Etah loose ice was streaming down past the mouth of the fiord. Cape Alexander was reached at midnight and the Roosevelt headed for Cape Isabella to run a line of soundings across Smith Sound as far as the ice would permit. About ten miles from Alexander the solid edge of the ice was encountered extending unbroken from there to the Ellesmere Land shore. This ice was very heavy and appeared to have no cracks or openings in it. The sounding here was 438 fathoms. The Roosevelt then headed away for Cape Chalon steaming around a point of the pack which reached nearly in to the Greenland shore above Sonntag Bay. Steaming into Whale Sound, which was filled with icebergs, fragments of ice and sheets of newly formed young ice, numbers of walrus were seen and ten secured, though with great difficulty as the young ice made it almost impossible to approach them. We then steamed into Kookan to land more of my Eskimos, and the anchor was hardly down off the delta of the stream, when a large sheet of comparatively heavy young ice drove against us and pushed the Roosevelt’s stern ashore almost at the crest of high-water.
This extremely annoying incident held us here until the following noon, but the occurrence was turned to account by additional calking of the stern and again tightening and this time wedging the bolts of the propeller blades. Steaming out from Kookan the tough young ice now several inches in thickness, retarded our progress seriously for some three miles. As we got out of the bay it became less dense. Heading for the passage between Herbert and Northumberland islands, six walrus of those that were directly on our route were secured and passing between the islands, we steamed for Cape Parry. Off this cape we got out of the young ice entirely, and steamed southward in open water. Another contingent of my Eskimos wishing to be landed at Oomunui on the south side of Wolstenholm Sound, we steamed in behind Saunders Island securing six large bull walrus. Young ice of too great thickness for us to penetrate, prevented our reaching Oomunui and an attempt was made to land the Eskimo at Narksami between Oomunui and Cape Athol. The anchor was dropped off this place but the movement and thickness of the young ice was such that I did not think it advisable to delay here even for an hour, and the anchor was immediately hoisted again and we forged slowly out through young ice which required all the power we could summon to negotiate it.
CAPE YORK, 76° NORTH LATITUDE
Northern limit of Melville Bay and most southerly settlement of the Whale Sound Eskimos
