with us all day, and it was pleasant to have his society.
Writing is difficult, the kettle is boiled, so here ends to-day's
entry.

February 21: Easy wind, clear sky, but awful cold. Going across Clements
Markham Inlet was fine, and we were able to steal a ride on the sledges
most of the way, but we all had our faces frosted, and my short flat
nose, which does not readily succumb to the cold, suffered as much as
did MacMillan's. Even these men of iron, the Esquimos, suffered from the
cold, Ootah freezing the great toe of his right foot. Perforce, he was
compelled to thaw it out in the usual way; that is, taking off his kamik
and placing his freezing foot under my bearskin shirt, the heat of my
body thawing out the frozen member.

Cape Colan was reached about half past nine this morning. There we
reloaded, and I fear overloaded, the sledges, from the cache which has
been placed there. Our loads average about 550 pounds per sledge and we
have left a lot of provisions behind.

We are at Cape Good Point, having been unable to make Cape Columbia, and
have had to build an igloo. With our overloaded sledges this has been a
hard day's work. The dogs pulled, and we pushed, and frequently lifted
the heavily loaded sledges through the deep, soft snow; but we did not
dump any of our loads. Although the boys wanted to, I would not stand
for it. The bad example of seeing some piles of provision-cases which
had been unloaded by the preceding parties was what put the idea in
their heads.

We will make Cape Columbia to-morrow and will have to do no
back-tracking. We are moving forward. I have started for a place, and do
not intend to run back to get a better start.

February 22, 1909: Cape Columbia. We left Cape Good Point at seven A. M.
and reached Cape Columbia at eight P. M. No wind, but weather thick and
hazy, and the same old cold. About two miles from Good Point, we passed
the Doctor's igloo. About a mile beyond this, we passed the "Crystal
Palace" that had been occupied by the Captain. Six miles farther north,
we passed a second igloo, which had been built by the Doctor's party.
How did we know who had built and occupied these igloos? It was easy, as
an Esquimo knows and recognizes another Esquimo's handwork, the same as
you recognize the handwriting of your friends. I noted the neat,
orderly, shipshape condition of the Captain's igloo, and the empty
cocoa-tins scattered around the Doctor's igloo. The Doctor was the only
on