The gold leaf., 1909-10-21

deep grooves III tne great po'i"Si' Se'N
foes.
The snow had been swept from the
ice by the force of the preceding
storms, and the speed attained by the
dogs through even rough ice was such
that it was difficult to keep far enough
ahead to get good course.
The crevasses and pressure lines gave
little trouble at first, but the hard IT.
regularity Of the barred ice offered a
dangerous surface for the life OF our
sleds, passing through blue gorges
among miniature mountains OF sea
ice. On a course slightly west OF
north we soon sank the bold headland
which raises the northern point of
Heiberg island.
Camp Is Pitched.
After a run of twenty-six miles we
pitched camp on foe berg OF unusual
height. There were many big huni-
mocks about, to the lee of which were
great banks Of hardened snow. Away
from land it is always more difficult
to find snow suitable for cutting build
ing blocks, but here was an abundance
conveniently placed. In the course OF
an hour a comfortable palace of crys-
tai was erected. and into 1t we crept
out Of the piercing wind. The first
DAYS march over the circumpolar sea
was closed with a good record.
The-dogs curIed up and went to sleep
without a call. as if they knew there
would be no food until the morrow.
NY wild companions covered their
faces with their convenient long hair
and sank quietly into comfortable
slumber. but for me sleep was quite
fmpossible. Letters must be written.
The whole problem Of our campaign
must be again carefully studied and
final plans must be made not only to
reach our ultimate destination. but Tor
the returning parties and for the secu-
rity of the things at Annootok.
Impossible to ForeteIi Return.
It was difficult at this time to even
guess at the probable line OF our re-
turn to land Much depended upon
conditions encountered in the north
ward route Though we had left
caches Of supplies. with the object OF
returning along Nansen sound into
Cannon ford and over Arthur Land.
I entertained grave doubts of our abil-
ity to return this way. If the Ice
drifted strongly to the east we might
not be given the choice Of working out
our own return. In that event we
would be carried perhaps helplessly to
Greenland and must seek return
either along the east coast or the west
coast
This drift did not offer q dangerous
hardship. for the musk oxen would
keep us alive to the west. and to the
east it seemed possible to reach Shan
non island. where the dwin-Ziegler
expedition had abandoned a large
cache of supplies. 1t appeared not i'm
probable also that a large land exten-
sion might offer a safe return much
farther west.
Francke's Instructions.
Because Of this uncertainty Francke
was instructed to wait until June 5,
1908, and if we did not return he was
told to place Koolootingwah in charge
and go home either by the whalers or
by the Danish ships to the south.
No relief which he could offer would
help us. and to wait for an indefinite
time alone would have inflicted need
less hardship. This and many other
instructions were prepared for Koo-
lootingwah and Inugito to take back.
In the morning the frost in crystals
had been swept from the air, but there
remained a humid chill which pierced
to the bones The temperature was
minus Sc f. A light air came from
the west, and the sun burned in
freezing blue.
After a few hours march the ice
changed in character. The extensive
thick fields gave place to moderate
sized foes. The foes were separated
by zones of troublesome crushed ice
thrown into high pressure lines. which
offered serious barriers. but with the
ice ak and Eskimo ingenuity we man.
aged to make fair progress.
The second run on the polar sea was
with twenty-one miles to our credit
1 heo SAPCNtSu " SCllu tuc
party back from here. but progress
had not been as good as expected. We
could hardly spare the food to feed
their dogs, so they volunteered to push
along another day without dog food.
Return of the Helpers.
On the next day, with increasing diff
ficulties in some troublesome ice we
camped after making only sixteen
miles. Here a small snow house was
built. and from here. after disposins Of
pot of steaming musk OK Ioins and
broth, followed by a double brew Of
tea, our last helpers returned.
With empty sleds and hungry dogs
they hoped to reach land in one long
days travel. But this would make the
fourth day without food for their dogs,
and IN case Of storm or moving ice
other days Of famine might easily fall
to their lot. They had. however an
abundance of dogs and might sacrifice
few for the benefit of the others, as
we must often do.
H/OOLOOTINGWAH and inucito
had been our bedfellows for the
IL entire northward run. and they
had gone through many danger
Gus and hard experiences together We
therefore felt more keenly their de-
parture than the going of the first six
We were at first lonely, but the exi
gencies of our problem were soon suffi
ciently engaging to occupy every cal
and strain every fiber.
Now our party was reduced to three