The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-11-29

the middle OF May, hts ship soon became
beset in the ice and drifted about for five
weeks before he could get her safely at an
Choir. 1t was on this very day, the 21st of
June, that Peary finally started in his
boats for the north. He was then farther
south than we are at the present moment.
But he had in his favor one Of those open
seasons when there is a great deal of open
water off these shores. He used his boats
without encountering ice to point IL
miles north of Little Table island. Where
Peary got this splendid start on his north
ward way without the necessity OF sledg-
ing it is now heavy ice as far as the eye
can reach. The whole northern coast Of
Spitzbergen is envelOped in white. Not
only is there ice everywhere, but it is ice
that has been drifted and shifted about all
winter and spring and has therefore been
screwed and broken into fragments piled
one upon another, with deep snow now
melting into deep pools of water between
them. 1t is surface over which man I'M
encountered by load of any sort could walk
no more than five or six miles day and
over which sledging with boats and food
is simply impossible This ice is not the
pack proper, as we have several times not
ed in this journal. 1t is a belt of drift ice
lying between the polar pack and the land,
too rough and too wide to be covered.
Peary's good fortune was in being able to
boat his way to the main pack. If we
could do that now, we could easily beat
his record, for our facilities for travelling
are much better than his were. But we
have never had and still have not a prac-
ticable thoroughfare to the heavy pack or
foe ice of the farther north.
On Restricted Diet.
JUNE 22.-After good nights rest,
during which the little camp resounded
with mighty noises, we set out at O'Clock
this morning determined to cover half
the remaining distance to the other side
of the bay. AS usual, the road was alter1
nately good and bad, and we had to make
two loads all the way. Mr.. Dodge is still
under the doctors care, suffering from a
strained ligament between his ribs, the
result of jumping too hard in his har
ness while helping to pull one of the
boats. Three or four of the men are suffer
ing with diarrheal troubles, which not
only weaken them very much, but make
it necessary for DR.. Mohun to place them
on a restricted diet, greatly to their dis
gust. Under the circumstances we do not
think it wise to push the men too hard,
and for three days the writer has put
"rucraddy,' as our men call the pulling
harness, over his shoulder and taken his
place in the crew. If there is such thing
in the world, which we very much doubt,
this is an easy way to do hard work. 1t is
easy because it is steady and slow, and be-
cause while trudging along beside one of
the boats one can take hold of the gun
vale with his right or left hand, as the
case may be, and thus save himself many
a slip and sprawl i'll the ice and slush.
The men all prefer pulling on the boats to
dragging sledge, where there is nothing
to take hold of, and where in rough ice
progress is made only by suffering series
of jerks upon the shoulders. For this rea-
son we trail the sledges after the boats,
but the work is hard and mOnotonous
nevertheless. With from eight to ten men
to one boat you step into the tracks Of tho
man ahead of you second after he has
lifted his feet Half the time this is in wa
ter or slush up to your ankles, but that
does not matter. You are even denied the
pleasure of looking ahead to watch for the
best road
The two leaders must do that, and every
other mans duty is to bend his shoulders
forward and downward and pull with all
the strength there is in him. In rough
places or deep snow the captain calls
out, Rush her drought and we all put
on few pounds more of steam, and with
prodigious pulls and yanks, and often by
the boat a little from one side to
the other on her sledge bottom, somehow
manage to get over the difficulty.
The Grateful Shade.
JUNE 23.-The arctic summer is upon
us. Though the night was chill and cloudy,
with a temperature of about 35, the morn
ing dawned with q hot sun and rising
mercury. One may judge the pleasant ma
ture of the weather from the fact that
after breakfast this morning and the de-
parture of one of the boats we sit down
upon the Parry, with coat off and hands
bare, to write these words in the journal
We even contrive to get in the shade 1t
Is perfectly calm morning, and not
speck of cloud is to be seen. The sky is
more deeply blue than even Italy can
boast. 1t is SO still that one can hear tho
gurgling of the little streams of water fall
ing down the hillside, four miles away
The Lockwood and it's crew are now fully
, mile away, and the conversation of the
men can be indistinctly heard, while the
cries of the captain, as the rough places
are encountered, seem to us but few rods
away. Vision is carried relatively as far