ost likely,
that what land he saw on the eastern side was a mere island, and not the
great American continent. Captain Cook, who came third, made no mistake,
for he fully realised that the division of the two hemispheres was here
affected, and gave to these straits the name of Bering, August
1778."--"An Arctic Province," by H. W. Elliott.]

The Eskimo settlement which nestles at the foot of Cape Prince of Wales
is known as Kingigamoot, and contains about 400 souls. The place looked
infinitely drearier and more desolate than the filthy Tchuktchi village
which had been our home for so many weary weeks, and it seemed to me at
first as though we had stepped, like the immortal Mr. Winkle in
"Pickwick," "quietly and comfortably out of the frying-pan into the
fire." For our welcome on the shores of America was a terrific gale,
and driving sleet against which we could scarcely make headway from the
spot where a landing was effected to the village, a distance of perhaps
a mile, which took us an hour to accomplish. It was barely eight
o'clock, and no one was yet stirring in the settlement, which is only
visible a short distance away, for the Eskimo, unlike the Tchuktchis,
dwell under the ground.

The sight of a wooden house with glass windows considerably enlivened
the dismal and storm-swept landscape, and we made our way to this
solitary haven, which proved to be the residence of Mr. Lopp, an
American missionary. His home, though snug enough, was too small to
contain more inmates, being already occupied by its owner's wife and
family, but an empty shed adjoining it was placed at our disposal, and
our hospitable friend bustled about to make it as cosy as possible for
our reception. The place was cold, pitch dark, and draughty, being only
used as a store-house, but by mid-day our tent was pitched inside the
building, and a fire was burning merrily in a small stove cleverly fixed
up by the missionary, whose kindly assistance was very welcome on this
bleak and barren shore. Food is scarce enough here, and had it not been
for these good friends in need, we should indeed have fared badly,
having landed with but few provisions. But although they could ill
afford it, the missionary and school teacher, Mrs. Bernardi, gave freely
from their scanty store, thereby rendering us a service which I can
never adequately repay.

Nome City was now our objective point, but how to reach it by land was
a puzzler, the hundred odd miles of country b