for it was too rough outside to risk ourselves there in the little
_Explorer_. The pulse of the big ship began to beat and slowly she
steamed out into the open and left us to the mercies of the unfeeling
rocks of Ungava.



CHAPTER XVI

CAUGHT BY THE ARCTIC ICE

We ran to shelter in a small cove and under the lee of a ledge pitched
our tent, using poles that the Eskimos had thoughtfully provided, and
anchoring the tent down with bowlders.

When I say the rocks here are scoured bare, I mean it literally.
There was not a stick of wood growing as big as your finger. On the
lower George, below the Narrows, and for long distances on the Ungava
coast there is absolutely not a tree of any kind to be seen. The only
exception is in one or two bays or near the mouth of streams, where a
stunted spruce growth is sometimes found in small patches. There are
places where you may skirt the coast of Ungava Bay for a hundred miles
and not see a shrub worthy the name of tree, even in the bays.

The Koksoak (Big) River, on which Fort Chimo is situated, is the
largest river flowing into Ungava Bay. The George is the second in
size, and Whale River ranks third. Between the George River and Whale
River there are four smaller ones--Tunulik (Back) River, Kuglotook
(Overflow) River, Tuktotuk (Reindeer) River and Mukalik (Muddy) River;
and between Whale River and the Koksoak the False River. I crossed