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clothing was taken aboard the two MacAlpine planes at Baker Lake, and if the party has shot caribou as is quite likely, they will have fashioned some rude protection against the weather from the hides. The country abounds in ptarmigan and arctic hare, both being easily caught or trapped. They were supplied with fish net and lines, and so long as they could cut holes through the frozen lakes they could catch fish, which are fairly plentiful … It has been a fairly open and mild fall in the Barren lands, according to Mr. Blanchet (explorer and navigator of Dominion Explorers Limited), whose experience of that country is as great as that of most men.
    In fact, the expedition members had not taken any winter clothing from the post at Baker Lake and so would not enjoy the warmth of fur clothing. They had not landed on a lake so they could not use their fishing lines, and ptarmigan would soon be migrating south from the Arctic coast. Ptarmigan, a member of the grouse family, were easily killed with a stone and would be good eating for the hungry men. Although these fat, fuzzy birds adapted well to the harsh Arctic climate, they did move from the higher latitudes to escape the darkness of the winter months. Footwear posed a further challenge for the Domex crew, as few of the men were suitably outfitted for the region. What little they had was supplied by the ever-helpful Inuit, but there was not enough to go around (and it didn’t always fit very well).
    Their food supplies were also dwindling, with no end to their confinement in sight. They were down to twenty-five pounds of flour, one-and-a-half tins of baking soda, half a pound of lard, a small tin of pork and beans, two-and-a-half tins of milk, four ounces of jam, a pound of salt, two ounces of pepper, two pounds of apricots, ten pounds of beans, half-a-pound each of rice and tea, two-and-a-half pounds of raisins, three tins of Frey Bentons corned beef, four pounds of sugar, two pounds of currants, one tin each of tomatoes and sausages, a bottle of coffee, a package of dates, half a dozen hardtack biscuits, a package of mushroom soup, twenty-eight chocolate bars, and thirty bouillon cubes. This standard bush fare was heavy on the carbohydrates but noticeably lacking in protein, fat, and fresh produce. Bush fare was fine for a short period of time, but by now the Domex men were feeling the effects of vitamin deficiencies, and day to day work was becoming physically draining.
    The stranded men continued their chores around camp — finding and cooking food, gathering fuel and shoring up their frequently collapsing sod house. To supplement their food stores, they hunted the increasingly elusive ptarmigan, along with ground squirrel and ducks, and landed the occasional fish. The Inuit were generous with their own food, mostly whitefish, dried salmon, and the occasional bits of caribou, sometimes green in colour — a sign of the meat’s advanced age and almost always indigestible to the Domex men. Major Baker had an additional challenge in eating — a badly infected tooth, which he was treating (inadequately) with Mercurochrome. The lack of fresh fruit and vegetables was beginning to take its toll, and despite bursts of energy, the men were weakening. A vitamin C deficiency weakens blood vessels and can cause a general malaise characterized by lack of enthusiasm.
    Initially, the cooking of their meagre food supplies was done on a stove made from one of the plane’s heaters, but the men were grateful when MacMillan traded a pair of field glasses for a more functional cooker. The Inuit explained to the men how to use moss and bits of scrub to fuel it. One evening, dinner consisted of grebes, water birds that the men called “hell-divers.” The oily meat left a layer of grease in the pot, and the meal made them so queasy that they decided to settle their stomachs with a tot of rum. In the dark, someone inadvertently used the water from the dishpan to