essness. I have seen rocks a hundred and a hundred and fifty pounds
in weight picked up by the storm and blown for distances of ninety or a
hundred feet to the edge of a precipice, and there of their own momentum
go hurtling through space to fall in crashing fragments at the base.
Imagine the effect of such a rainfall of death-dealing bowlders on the
feelings of a little group of three or four, who have sought the base
of the cliff for shelter. I have been there and I have seen one of my
Esquimo companions felled by a blow from a rock eighty-four pounds in
weight, which struck him fairly between the shoulder-blades, literally
knocking the life out of him. I have been there, and believe me, I have
been afraid. A hundred-pound box of supplies, taking an aerial joy ride,
during the progress of a storm down at Anniversary Lodge in 1894, struck
Commander Peary a glancing blow which put him out of commission for over
a week. These mighty winds make it possible for the herbivorous animals
of this region to exist. They sweep the snow from vast stretches of
land, exposing the hay and dried dwarf-willows, that the hare,
musk-oxen, and reindeer feed on.

The Esquimo families who came north to Cape Sheridan with us on the
_Roosevelt_ found life much more ideal than down in their native land.
It was a pleasure trip for them, with nothing to worry about, and
everything provided. Some of the families lived aboard ship all through
the winter, and some in the box-house on shore. They were perforce much
cleaner in their personal habits than they were wont to be in their own
home country, but never for an instant does the odor or appearance of an
Esquimo's habitation suggest the rose or geranium. The aroma of an East
Side lunch-room is more like it.

There were thirty-nine Esquimos in the expedition, men, women and
children; for the Esquimo travels heavy and takes his women and children
with him as a matter of course. The women were as useful as the men, and
the small boys did the ship's chores, sledging in fresh water from the
lake, etc. They were mostly in families; but there were several young,
unmarried men, and the unattached, much-married and divorced Miss
"Bill," who domiciled herself aboard the ship and did much good work
with her needle. She was my seamstress and the thick fur clothes worn on
the trip to the Pole were sewn by her. The Esquimos lived as happily as
in their own country and carried on their domestic affairs with alm