The Redwood gazette., 1894-12-06
From first page.

the ice did not even move. 1t hugged the
shore with provoking persistency and was
every day getting in worse condition as
the pools between the high pieces softened
and melted. We then perceived that il
anything at all were to be accomplished
it must be by literally crawling over the
rough ice and through the pools of slush.
It was desperate chance that anything
could be done in this way, but that chance
we resolved to take. Preparations were
made for the last desperate struggle to-
ward the north by fitting out the Lock
wood and crew of eight men, cutting
off every ounce of weight that could posi-
bly, be dispensed with and taking fuel and
provisions for 20 days. The Parry was
left behind with DR.. Mohun and three
men under orders to wait week and then
make their way back to Walden island.
Great was the disappointment of the
men who were assigned to stay behind.
Unpromising as was the effort to push far
north, evsry man in the party wanted to
60 with the Lockwood.
So we bade goodby to our comrades of
the Parry crew, hauled cur boat and two
sledges to the edge of the tide hole and
embarked. If you had seen the little Lock
wood as we set out, you would have said
we were foolhardy to venture from the
shore in her. First she had been slowed
with the sleeping bags, extra clothing
bags, cooking apparatus, alcohol case,
awning, weapons, instruments and a great
variety of articles indispensable to trip
of this sort. Before a man set foot in the
boat she was comfortably full, her three
thwarts being completely covered and her
water tight compartments piled high with
freight. 1t was difficult to see how a man
was to find room in her, and yet eight
men did find places to squeeze themselves
in, and we soon had an opportunity to OBJ
serve how good a sailer the Lockwood is.
Though very topheavy, and with our two
aluminium sledges towed behind, she rode
the waves as gracefully as an elder duck.
The first day out we had fine example
of what we could do in the way of travel
amid reasonably favorable conditions. In
two hours, with wind and tide against us.
we rowed two miles to the northeast. In
three hours more, over the smooth ice in
the lee of the Reps island we pulled our
9, 300 pounds at one load and made two
miles more. With some good ice like this,
some leads of water to boat through and a
fair share of rough ice to get over we could
easily make from 10 to 20 miles day.
Were we now upon the main or true polar
pack we venture to say we could average
a dozen miles day, and 40 days of such
travel would carry us very near to the
north pole. We see now more clearly than
ever before what fine chance we have
lost by the radical change which came over
the season in May. Had the winds been
from the northeast, as they usually are in
this region in early summer, 80 or 40 days
ago we might have enjoyed Parry's expe
rience of boating through the drift ice to
the heavier foes farther north. But the
northwest winds have piled the winter ice
in hopeless confusion upon all this coast
We cannot create conditions, but only
struggle against them. For three days we
threw our strength against the ice wall
which we found barring the way to the
north. For three days we worked as we
had never worked before. No words Of
mine will serve to give you an adequate
conception of the nature of that hopeless
struggle. In an hour after we had left the
shore of the Reps every man in the party
realized that we were attempting the i'm
possible Near the coast the ice is piled
20 or 80 feet high. To get over these OBJ
structions we had to lift the boat by main
strength. Often it was necessary to get
out the block and tackle and advance by
inches. AS soon as we get over one of
these barriers we find ourselves in a pocket
of loose ice and water. There is not water
enough to push the boat through nor ice
enough for the men to find footing upon.
1t is mere sludge, neither the one thing
nor the other The men cannot cross ahead
of the boat with line for fear of falling
in and drowning before assistance can
reach them.
1t is necessary for all hands to stay by
the boat that they may have something to
cling to when they find themselves half
immersed in the sea by the overturning of
q small piece of ice, as they do every few
minutes. One of the men gets upon a
piece of ice large and buoyant enough to
sustain his weight, but the instant he
throws his strength upon the load the
piece sinks in the water, capsizes and
plunges him in. With his boots full of ice
water he chambers upon the boat and
looks for another piece of ice which he
hopes will sustain his weight. While he is
doing this his comrades are having just
the same experience, and the result Is that
fully half the men are forced to ride in the
boat all the time. In this way we founder
and struggle along inch by inch until we
have crossed the pool and reached the mass
of higher Ice on the other side. There the
boat must be lifted out of the soup, as our
men call the pools of sludge, by main
strength, no easy task, considering that
| at first only two or three men can find a
footing upon which to exert themselves,
while most of the others find it necessary
to add their weight to that of the craft.
Amusing Predicaments.
Still we keep up the work We struggle
through pool after pool and over barrier
after barrier. We are all wet to the skin,
from our toes to our waists, and some OF
us have been soaked to our necks. There
| is something ridiculous as we'll as provok-
| ing about it all, and we have our joke and
laugh notwithstanding the seriousness of
the situation. When gallant Captain Pc
dersen measures his length in pocket of
sludge and finally pulls himself out and
sits on the gunwale, rubbing his bruised
| knees, the men set up shout and ask
him how he likes soup. When Professor
French, our astronomical observer, takes
! header into the slndge and crewis ont.
all bedraggled and not a little dazed, the
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