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1861 Tuesday Feb 5th

the vessel in April anticipating to be absent 3 months. 
Better than all, the letter speaks to my heart in the language of his own that I am yet cherished & remembered. begining & ending as his letter does, thus: 'My dear Friend Hall - - Your Friend & Well Wisher,
S.O. Budington'

As a matter of joke I enclosed in my letter to Capt. B. a lock of my hair wh. was of the flowing (?) locks severed from my [[?capot]] during our confinement in the Igloo on the ice by the terrific gale of Jan. 12th on our way up here.

In return, Capt. B. has sent me in the letter, a lock of his, prettily knotted - so fanciful indeed, that I mean to keep it to enclose in a breast pin when I get Home.


28th Night in an Igloo!
Wednesday, Feb. 6th 1861

This Morning at an early hour, Ebierbing & Ugarny, who are constantly doing all they can to keep up a supply of the elements of Life, were making preperations for starting for Kow-tuk-ju-a & other places in the vicinity. Their purpose is to visit also the Island, Oo-kood-lear, to see if they cannot capture some seals there as a Bay or harbor makes up into a portion of the Island that never freezes over.
While the dogs were being harnessed & other preparation advancing, Tak-oo-li-too

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1861 Wednesday 6th

was busily engaged making each of the indefatigable Sealers a Bowl of hot Coffee while I rationed out some bread (Sea-bread) Pork & Beef doing the same in packages for each to carry with them.  Not only a liberal ration to each as thus stated but also for their Morning Repast - giving to them slices also of the "Wheat Bread" Capt. B. sent me.  [[underlined]] Workers must eat, [[/underlined]] & Knowing these parties who do all within their powr to make me comfortable & at Home among them, to be of this class I thus feel to assist all my means will allow me.  It will be seen that Ugarny took breakfast in Our Igloo- of my material - for all civilization food eaten in our Igloo is of the ration allowed me by the Commander of the "George Henry".  The [[underlined]] 'luxuries' [[/underlined]] are mine such as tea & coffee!  Should I not include my [[underlined]] "Baked Beans"[[/underlined]] under this head?  At VIII they were under way with dogs (7) & sledge - the latter having been well iced previous to starting.  When Ugarny performed this operation this Morning I noticed one thing not observed before - that he had a little seal-blood mixed with the Water.  This gave it color (deep red) which showed distinctly where-ever put on - assisting by the contrast between the Bone (jaw bone of the Whale with wh. Innuit sledges are usually shod) & the water, in distributing it evenly.  I may here say for I may not have stated it before that whenever the sledge touches the Sea-ice it soon takes off the icing on its shoes: 
When snow or fresh water ice is the material over which Kummiti glides, this shoe icing lasts the day long, tho' the distance travelled may be great.

I spent this morning bushing a Watch Key - Key I obtained of Ebierbing's sister "Jennie" ([[space]]) - having lost the only one I had to my watch some 3 months ago one