Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-11-26

hard work which followed. under an
occasional burst of burning sunbeams,
brought intense thirst.
Soup a Luxury.
Forcing the habit of the camel, we
managed to take enough water before
starting TO keep sufficient liquid In the
veins for the days march. but it was
difficult to await the melting of the ice
at camping time.
In two sittings-evening and morn
ing-each took an average of three
quarts of water daily. This included
the tea and also the luxury of an oc-
c%asional soup. There was water about
everywhere In heaps, but 1t was In
crystals, n before the thirst could
be quenched several ounces of pre-
cious fuel. which had been carried
thousands of miles. must be used. And.
still this water, so expensive and so
necessary to us. ultimately became the
greatest bane to comfort. 1t escaped
through the pores of the skin. satu-
rated the boots. formed a band of ice
under the knee and a belt of frost
about the waist. while the face was
nearly always incased in a mask of
1cicleS from the breath-a necessary
part of u hard lot in life. and we
learned to take the torture philoso-
phically. From ice 1t comes, to ice
1t goes like the other elements of
the body, when the good preacher pro-
nounces the last words ''from dust to
dust"
From the eighty-seventh to the
eighty-eighth parallel we passed for
two days over old ice without pressure
lines or hummocks. There was no dis
cernible line of d~emarcation for the
fields, and 1t was quite impossible to
determine II we were on land or sea
ice. The barometer indicated no ele-
walton, but the ice had the hard, wav-
ing surface of glacial ice, with only
superficial The water OBJ
tanned from this was not salty, but all
of the upper surface Of the ice of the
polar sea makes similar water. The
nautical observations did not seem to
indicate a drift, but nevertheless the
combined tabulations do not warrant
the positive assertion Of either land or
sea for this area.
An Air Line Course.
This ice gave a cheering prospect. A
plain of purple and blue ran in easy
undulations to the limits of vision
without the usual barriers of uplifted
blocks. Over 1t a direct air line course
was possible. Progress, however, was
quite as difficult as over the irregular
pack. The snow was crusted with
large crystals. An increased friction
reduced the speed, while the surface,
too hard for snowshoes, was also too
weak to give a secure footing. The
loneliness, the monotony, the hardship
of steady, unrelieved travel were now
keenly felt.
1t is not often that mans horsepow-
er Is put to the test as ours was. We
were compelled to develop a working
energy to the limit of animal capacity.
Day after day we had pushed along
kattLa-same steady pace oyer nlains Of
frost and through a mental desert.
As the eye opened at the end of an
icy slumber the fire was lighted little
by little, the stomach was filled with
LIQUIDS and solids, mostly cold-enough
to last for the day, for there could be
no halt or waste of fuel for midday
feeding. We next got into harness
and paced off the days pull under the
lash of duty. We worked until stand
ing became impossible-longer in light
winds, shorter in strong winds, but al
ways until the feet became numb and
heavy.
Then came the arduous task of build
ing a snow house. In this the eyes. no
longer able to wink, closed, but soon
the empty stomach complained, and 1t
was filed up a%gain-not with things
that pleased the palate, only hard fuel
to feed the inner fires, while the ear
sought the soft side of ice to dispel
fatigue; no pleasure in mental recre-
alton. nothing to arouse the soul from
its icy Enclosure.
To eat, to sleep, to press n foot
ahead of the other, was our steady vo-
cation, like the horse TO the cart,
but we had not his advantage of an
agreeable climate and a comfortable
stable at night.
Where Madness Sits.
Words and pictures cannot adequate
ly describe the maddening influence
of this sameness of polar glitter, COM
bined with bitter winds, extreme cold
and an overworked body. TO me there
was always the inspiration of antici-
patton of the outcome of ultimate sue
cess hut for my Young savage COM
panions it was a torment almost be-
yond endurance. Their WEAKNESS was
made evident by a lax use of the whip
and an Indifferent urging of the dogs.
They were, however, brave and faith
full to the bitter end, seldom allowing
selfish ambitions or uncomfortable
passions seriously to interfere with the