Hopefully they dragged their kayaks over the snow, the sledge runners fastened on to their feet, and so made their way southwards down Franz Josef Land.
They had built kayaks or light boats to sail in open water, and these were placed on the sledges and drawn by dogs.
The explorers had reached the south of the Islands, and, having moored their little boats together, they ascended a hummock close by, when to their horror they saw the kayaks were adrift.
Six dog-sledges are also being made, and to-morrow we shall begin building kayaks ready for the men.
For a beginning we are making kayaksto hold two men each.
It seems that but few have thought of following the example of the Eskimo--living as they do, and, instead of heavy boats, taking light kayaksdrawn by dogs.
Wandering along the coast for some distance he came to two fine new kayaks lying at the foot of a hill, and in the kayaks were spears, lines, floats, and other hunting implements.
He showed them how to make kayaks by stretching green hides over a framework of ribs, and letting the hides dry.
The men all ran to their kayaks eager to secure the beautiful creature.
For some reason the Tornit did not make kayaks for themselves, although they saw how convenient they were for hunting when the ice broke up in the spring.
His plan is one which Eskimos frequently adopt when one of their kayaks has been destroyed by rocks or walruses.
I would have asked Him to clear the sea of ice," replied the Eskimo promptly, "and send us kayaks and oomiaks to take us on shore.
Angut and Simek had time to lift their kayaks on to the ice, but that, as it turned out, was of no advantage.
But they were all men who could accept the inevitable with a good grace, and as they knew it was impossible to advance without kayaks and oomiaks, they awaited the return of Arbalik as patiently as possible.
While he gazed at the busy groups below, our weak-minded youth observed two of the party step into kayaks which lay on the beach, push off into the bay, and commence what may be styled "kayak exercise.
The kayaks were old ones which had been found by the party on arriving at the deserted village.
Were you not in great danger when your oomiak and kayaks were crushed in the ice?
In a few places the young sealing induces the Eskimo to leave the winter settlements; in other places the kayaks are prepared for visiting the floe edge, and bears and the returning birds are hunted.
They do all the work, going out hunting in the kayaks and providing for the men.
In the last days of March some of the natives started for Sarvaq and Netchillik to fetch their kayaks (p.
In hunting them at those places some of the Eskimo in kayaks occupy the shallow entrance of the inlet, while others scare the seals from its head.
After the breaking up of the ice the natives take to their kayaks and the summer hunt is started.
If they happen to be met with on the water they are encircled by kayaks and driven towards the shore, one boat leading.
A great number of Inuit died during this period, but many others, who had taken to their kayaks when the water commenced to rise, were saved.
While the kayaksof the Oqomiut have only in exceptional cases two lateral supports between keel and gunwale, Lyon found in the boats of these natives seven siadnit, but no keel at all.
Here the kayaks are left, and in December, when the sealing begins to be more successful near the sound, the Eskimo turn to the entrance of Nettilling Fjord, where Tininiqdjuaq and Neqemiarbing are favorite places.
Their clothing and even the covers of their kayakswere made of deer and musk ox skins.
When the men go out hunting in their kayaks the women of the Aivillirmiut take a cup down to the shore and leave it there, believing that it will bring luck (Hall II, p.
Committee Bay (Akugdlit) was filled with a heavy pack about that time, and the natives hunted walrus in their kayaks (I, p.
With a few boats and four kayaks they left Nettilling and followed the coast.
As we neared this headland, many natives came out in kayaks to meet us.
With muffled paddles the launch was now silently propelled forward, while the kayaks stealthily advanced to deliver the harpoons.
The natives inkayaks soon discovered to their surprise that their best speed was not equal to ours--for the first time they were beaten in their own element.
As we entered the narrow channel, which turns among low, polished rocks and opens into the harbor, two Eskimos in kayaks came out to act as pilots.
The kayaks and the Eskimos were placed in the dory.
To the huge carcass frail kayaks are hitched in a long line.
The boats of the Eskimos are called kayaks and are like no others in the world.
They have their skin-covered kayaks made in much the same way as those of the Greenland Eskimos, although it is very probable that they have never heard of their relations in that distant island.
Fortunately, in addition to the two boats, one of the kayaks had been saved.
The Esquimo were not long in finding the new anchorage of the whites, and in a few days a fleet of kayaks containing seven families appeared.
The little kayaks would circle out silent as shadows over the silver surface of the sea.
The Russian schooner would launch out a brigade of cockle-shell kayaks on an unruffled stretch of sea, which the sea-otter traversed going to and from the kelp-beds.
Two or three thousand Aleut hunters came flocking over the sea in their kayaksto join the sea-otter brigades.
To be sure, the bidarkies filled and foundered; the kayaks were ripped on the teeth of the rock reefs.
Next moment half-a-dozen swift kayaks or Eskimo boats were dashing from the shore to their rescue.
But this gulf is a sea in itself, and they had no boats, while the kayaks of the natives were far too frail, even if they had been numerous enough, to be of much use.
Magadar thought it wise to make no answer to this question, and in a few seconds more the kayaks doubled round a point that jutted into the stream and were hid from view.
The party was then and there arranged, and two days later they set out on their mission, a goodly band, in kayaks and oomiaks.
The women were not expected to take part in the action--only to look on,--but all the men in kayaks advanced.
All the kayaks were well out of gunshot range when the shore was reached, except one which lagged behind.
Two men then gave up their kayaks to two of the women, and took their places in the oomiak.
To do them full credit, they did not move until their leader gave the word--then they sprang down the hillock, and in three minutes more were out in their kayaksmaking for the mouth of the river at their utmost speed.
In a few minutes the kayaks and oomiaks came sweeping round the point and made straight for the landing-place.
After this unexpected and dangerous encounter was over, it was found that several other animals were splashing about in a dying state, or fast to seal-skin buoys which the men in the kayaks had managed to affix to them.
Then we will drive to the place where we have left our kayaks and oomiaks, some of us will go to Waruskeek, and some to pay a visit to the Fire-spouters at Whale River.
With shouts of delight the Eskimos jumped into their kayaks and followed.
Their admiration was, however, a little calmed by the discovery that the kayaks could beat the Kablunet boat in speed, though the women in their oomiaks could not keep up with it.
The instant he was seen, however, every paddle flashed into the sea, and the kayaks darted away in pursuit.
Several of the kayaks which chanced to be nearest to the whale rushed towards it like sword-fish; but they had no chance, Leo being so near.
Despite his utmost efforts, Leo could not do more than keep up in rear of the hunters, for the sharp shuttle-like kayaks shot like arrows over the smooth sea, while his clumsier boat required greater force to propel it.
When land was reached they leaped out of their kayaks and crowded round the strangers.
Then Amalatok, burning with the righteous indignation of the man who did not begin the quarrel, got up a grand muster of his forces, and went with a great fleet of kayaks to attack Grabantak in his strongholds.
Before it had reached the deepest twilight that night a hundred and fifty picked warriors, with their kayaks and war material, were skimming over the sea, led by the fiery old chief and his gigantic but peace-loving son.
Our kayaks are gone," continued the giant, sadly, "we must come back and travel many days before we find things to make new ones.
In the majority of these kayaks short fore-and-aft battens are laid on the thwarts forward of the manhole to support the skin cover in its sweep upward to the manhole.
The blind seam is used but in many kayaks the lap is very short, about ⅜ inch being common.
Originally the 2-and 3-cockpit kayaks of Russian colonial Alaska had been omitted as being probably the results of Russian influence.
While these bark canoes had some superficial resemblance in general proportions to the Eskimo kayaks, it is necessary to point out that they did not, particularly in Alaska, have the same hull form as the seagoing kayaks in that area.
The covering most widely used in Alaskan kayaks was the bearded seal skin and with the Aleuts the skin of the sea lion was the most popular.
In all kayaks the gunwales are the main strength members, longitudinally.
These hunting umiaks worked with kayaks in Aleutian walrus and sea-lion hunting; a practice that seems to have once been common along the Western Alaskan coast and among the islands.
Some Alaskan Eskimo thus converted kayaks into catamarans and then fitted a mast and sail, but such an arrangement was never used in rough water.
The model of the kayak used on much of the central and southern coasts of Greenland has changed rather extensively since 1883, and this change has apparently affected the kayaks used on the east coast as well.
Nunivak Island kayaks had large manholes that carried two people back-to-back.
The basic requirements in nearly all kayaks are the same; to paddle rapidly and easily, to work against strong wind and tide or heavy head sea, to be maneuverable, and to be light enough to be readily lifted from the water and carried.
Some kayaks have similar characteristics, though their small size and the light weight of both boat and loading make its resistance to shock of far less importance than that of the umiak.
With some difficulty he paddled the kayaks back to Johansen, who confessed that these were the worst moments he had ever lived through.
Both whale-boats and fivekayaks were employed, and all the able-bodied men and boys of the village of Karnah.
They first decided to attack the walruses, and as they were emptying the kayaks in order to be prepared, a she-bear and her cub were seen coming along the edge of the ice, and both were shot.
Bolsters filled with pemmican and dried-liver pie were made to fit the sledges and form a bed on which the kayaks were to rest.
The flames spread so rapidly that soon the rigging was on fire, sixteen paraffin-prepared kayaks which were lying under the awning were totally destroyed, as well as a score of prepared polar-ox skins and some bear-skins.
A rush was made to the edge of the ice, but the kayaks were already a little way off and were drifting quickly.
It was on the first occasion that the kayaks were used.
On the 4th June they were able to launch their kayaks for the first time, and made great progress.
One of the kayaks was thrown half into the water, and the other high up among the stones, but fortunately they were still seaworthy.
These kayaks were chiefly intended for crossing over channels and open spaces in the ice, and coasting along possible land.
He knew that if the kayaks were lost it meant death to him and his companion.
On the 12th of August it was decided to cut off the ends of the sledges, so as to be able to use the kayaks singly.
His strokes became more and more feeble, but the distance from the kayaks became shorter, and at last he was able to grasp a snow-shoe which lay across the sterns.
Nansen decided to go out in the kayaks after the cubs.
Meanwhile the sledge, which had been drawn partly on to the ice, slid down again, and the kayaks with Johansen and the dogs were set adrift.
The kayaks were launched, and the cubs chased to land, where they were shot.
The sight of them skimming the water so easily in their frail kayaks was the most welcome spectacle I had seen since we sailed from Sydney.
The lads wandered about the encampment, examining the kayaks and crude hunting implements and paraphernalia of the Eskimos.
The women were packing up their own supplies now, herding the dogs together, pulling the kayaks up on the decks of the sailing-schooners.
We farmed the salt seas for the fish, the seal, and the otter; and our homes shouldered about one another on the rocky strip between the rim of the forest and the yellow beach where our kayaks lay.
And the ghosts of the past were in the air and all about us; and I saw the yellow beach of Akatan, and the kayaks racing home from the fishing, and the houses on the rim of the forest.
It was not very long before Johansen and the others followed, with the kayaks and our things.
Meanwhile the time flew by--our precious time; but then we hoped that our kayaks would render us important assistance, and that we should get on all the quicker in them.
It looked at us and our kayaks once or twice, but could not quite make out what we were, as the wind was in another direction and it could not get scent of us, so it continued its way.
I ought perhaps to explain here that I had deferred mending the kayaks as long as possible.
The kayaks were therefore lashed together, and, seated upon the ring, we put out towards the big bull which lay and dived just outside.
We should get very little distance in the day, and it might cost us dear with the kayaks on the short sledges, among all these ridges and hummocks; and so we lay there day and night waiting for the wind to go down or to change.
The pemmican bolsters and dried-liver pie are now ready; the kayaks will get an excellent bedding, and I venture to say that such meat-bolsters are an absolute novelty.
Yesterday and the last few days were dull and gloomy; everything seemed hopeless, the ice impassable, no game to be found; and then comes the incident of a seal rising near our kayaks and rolling about round us.
Meanwhile we will rig up wooden grips on our sledges, and try to make the kayaks water-tight.
When they came alongside, I saw that the kayaks were about 15 feet long, with little knobs of ivory decorating bow and stern, and were about 18 inches wide at the widest part and covered with skin.
I repaired to the fore top and presently saw two kayaks coming toward us.
Early, two Esquimaux men, Joas and Uiverunna, came in their kayaks to pay us a visit.
Several of them, and among them our friend Uttakiyok, followed us in their kayaks to the mouth of the river.
Not perceiving any Esquimaux on shore, Jonathan and Thukkekina went up the bay in their kayaks in search of them.
The women on board our boat, on seeing this, set up a loud scream; but Jonathan only laughed at their fears, and we afterwards saw kayaks passing the eddy in perfect safety.
They usually fastened fromkayaks or umiaks and drove in as many irons as they could.
Kayaks and umiaks dotted the beach; dogs came down to the shore and stared at the ship.
Sometimes they had to get out on to the ice which blocked the channel and drag the kayaks over to the open water on the other side; sometimes they sailed and sometimes they paddled.
As soon as they came to a place which recommended itself to them, they ran ashore and landed their kayaks and stores.
The breeze which was blowing helped thekayaks along, but only increased his discomfort.
They made the kayaks fast to a projecting piece of ice, and together climbed up to the top of the hummocks.
It was evident that the kayaks would have to be used in getting across, and they were taken from the sledges and examined.
It was useless taking to the kayaks to cross them, and often impossible to go round, so they adopted the method of jumping from piece to piece, and drawing their sledges after them.
They determined that they would winter on the shore of one of the four, and the kayaks were launched and laden with everything for the journey across the open water.
Soon he felt that the fight was only a matter of minutes for as the coldness numbed him more and more, he realised that unless he overtook the kayaks quickly he would go to the bottom like a stone.
The kayaks were destroyed, as well as all the spare wood, the rigging and sails on the mainmast, the awning, and some stores on the lower deck, where the flames also penetrated.
By the middle of May the water along the shore was sufficiently open to permit of their starting in the kayaks on the journey which they expected would end at Spitzbergen.
For a moment the sight held the two men motionless, for the kayaks represented their only means of escape.
When the stores had been repacked, the two men, with the two dogs, entered the kayaks and paddled away down the channel, landing some hours later on the other side.
In order to prevent another such occurrence, the kayaks were freed from each other, Nansen occupying one with half the provisions and stores, and Johansen the other.
Then the kayaks were carefully fastened together by the ski, and upon them was laid the sledges and the stores.
Some kayaks soon came off to the ship, bringing salmon-trout, both fresh and smoked.
Kayaks are very light and handy, as the frame is made either of whalebone or spruce.
But all similar craft, though looking like canoes afloat, are no more like the true canoes and kayaks in their constructional detail than a bird is like a butterfly.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "kayaks" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
