The nights now were very dark. Off Cape Athol we got free of the young ice again, and steaming south in open water, were off Cape Dudley Diggs early the following morning and steamed into Parker Snow Bay to land the last of my Eskimos. This day was a perfect one of brilliant sunshine and pronounced warmth. The Eskimos worked with a will landing their belongings, their dogs, and the walrus meat which I had secured for the purpose of carrying them through the winter, as I was bringing them back at the close of the hunting season when they could hope to secure only a scanty supply of food before the winter set in. By night everything was landed, and several tents set up on the shore. As the darkness came down it began to snow, accompanied by light wind from the southeast. In the morning the whole country was white with snow and a vicious southeaster in progress which held us here until the following morning. This time was occupied in getting the _Roosevelt_ ready for rough water. From Cape Union to here all provisions, ammunition and equipment of all kinds had been carried on deck ready to be thrown ashore or out upon the ice whenever the necessity arose. This deck load was now transferred to the hold, and the ship generally put in better trim for the mauling which we were sure to receive at this season of the year once we got clear of the ice. As soon as the weather moderated sufficiently we steamed to Cape York where four families were found. Here we made fast to the newly formed land ice and remained three or four hours while repairing a bent eccentric. The natives here reported that the ice in Melville Bay had gone out but a short time previous, and during the entire season no ship had been able to approach the Cape, an occurrence which has not happened before since my acquaintance with this region, dating back to 1891.