Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-10-29

=snow. The crack Of the whips and
the rebound of cheering voices were
the last which we heard of the faithful
isavnge supporters. They had followed
not for pay, but for a real desire to
be helpful, from the dark days of the
lending of night to the bright nights
of the coming double days, and their
parting enforced a pang of loneliness.
/ Another Sleep Before the Start.
With a snow charged blast in our
faces 1t was quite impossible for us
10 start. so we withdrew to the snow
igloo. entered III bags and slept a few
hours longer. At noon the horizon
rleared. The wind veered to the south
west and came with an endurable
force. The dogs had been doubly fed
the night before. They were not to
be fed again for two days. The 1.2O0
pounds Of freight were packed on u
and quickly we slipped around
deep grooves In the great poliocrystic
foes.
The snow had been swept from the
Ice by the force of the preceding
1 storms. and the speed attained by the
dogs through even rough ice was such
that 1t was difficult to keep far enough
ahead to get a good course
The crevasses and pressure lines gave
little trouble at first, but the hard ir-
regularity Of the barred ice offered a
dangerous surface for the life of u
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 u of twenty-six miles we
pitched camp on a foe berg of unusual
height. There were many bigvhum-
mocks about, to the lee of which were
great banks of hardened nov 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 brst
days march over the circumpolar sea
was closed with a good record.
The dogs curled up and went to sleep
! without a call. as IL they Knew there
1 would be no food until the morrow.
NV wild companions covered their
faces with their convenient long hair
and sank quietly into a comfortable
slumber. but for me sleep was quite
nimpossible. 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 for
the returning parties and for the secu-
}rity of the things at Annootok.
impossible to Foretell 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
Ncaches of supplies. with the object OF
kturninrA along hansen sound into
l1snIvrf n0fez a41u ov~~ .A~thsr LandL
II entertained grave doubts of u abfl-
)ity to return this way. If the ice
ldrifted strongly to the east we might
mot be given the choice of working out
Our own return. In that event we
would be carried perhaps helplessly to-
Greenland and must seek a return
either along the east coast or the e
coast.
This drift did not offer a 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 Baidwin-Ziegler
expedition had abandoned a large
cache OF supplies. 1t appeared not i'm
probable also that a large land extern
sion might offer a safe return much
farther west.
Frarrke's Instructions.
Because of this uncertainty Franoke
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 a 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 So f. A light air came from
the west. and the sur burned In a
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
aged to make fair progress.