Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-09
CHAPTER VII.

On snowshoes and with spread legs !
led the way. The sleds with light loads
followed. The surface vibrated as we
moved along, but the spiked handle of the
Ice ak did not easily pass through. For
about two miles we walked with an easy
tread and considerable anxiety but we
had all been on similar ice before and we
knew that with a ready line and careful
watchfulness there was no great danger.
A cold bath, however, In that tempera-
ture. 40 degrees below. could have had
some serious consequences. In two cross
| ings all our supplies were safely landed
on the north shores, and from there the
lead had a much more picturesque as
| pect.
For time this huge separation in the
pack was mystery to me. At first sight
| there seemed to be no good reason for
break north of Robson channel. 1t
seemed likely that what we saw was an
extension of the same lead following at a
distance the general trend of the north
ernmost land extension.
This is precisely what one finds on a
smaller scale whenever two packs come
/ together. Here we have the pack of the
central polar sea meeting the land ice.
The movement of the land ice pack is in
termittent and usually along the coast.
The shadows. grounded ice and projecting
points interfere with steady drift. The
movement of the central pack is quite
constant and almost in every direction.
The tides the currents and the winds
each gives momentum to the floating
mass. This lead is the breaking line be-
tween the two bodies Of Ice. 1t widens as
the pack separates, narrows or widens
with an easterly or westerly drift, accord
| Ing to the pressure of the central pack.
Early In the season when the pack is little
crevassed and not elastic it is probably
wide: later as the entire sea of ice be-
comes active it may disappear or shift to
| line nearer the land.
New Ice Stops Drift.
In low temperature new ice forms
rapidly, and this offers an obstruction to
the drift of the old ice. AS the heavy
central ice is pressed against the unyield
ing land pack the small ice Is ground up
and even heavy foes are crushed. This
reduced mass of small ice is pasted and
| cemented along the shores of the big lead,
| leaving broad band of troublesome sur
| face as serious barrier to sled travel.
1t seems quite likely that this lead. or {,
condition similar to it, extends entirely
| around the polar sea as a buffer between
| the land and the middle pack.
With the big lead and its many posi-
Dllltles Tor troublesome delay behind, u
| course was set to reach the eighty -ffth
parallel on the ninety-seventh meridian.
What little movement was noted on the
| Ice had been easterly, and to allow for
thls ulIIt we aimed 10 keep a line slightly
west of the pole.
| Small foes, with low pressure lines sepa-
| rated by normal belts of new ice, We're the
| rule during these days of travel. The tenn
| perature rose to forty-one below. The
western sky cleared slightly and offered
| strong appearance of land.
The wind was not a troublesome factor
| as we forged along for the first day over
| this central pack. After run of eleven
hours the pedometer registered twenty
| three miles, bat we had taken a zigzag
course and therefore only placed seven
| teen miles to our credit.
The night was beautiful. The sun sank
| into a purple haze and soon there ap-
peared three seas in prismatic colors, and
| these soon settled into the frozen sea
| During the night q narrow band Of orange
| frightened the northern skies. while the
pack surface glowed in magnificent shades
of violet and lilac and pale purple blue
Land Clouds Still Visible.
| Satisfactory observations at noon March
"a gave our position as latitude S3 deg
81 min., longitude 96 deg. q min
The land clouds of Grant Land were
| still visible and low bank of mist In
the west occasionally frightened, offering
an outline suggestive of land. This we
believed to be Croker Land, but mist
persistenly screened the horizon and did
not offer an opportunity to study the con-
tour.
| Until midday the time was used for OBJ
servations and study of the land condi-
1 tions. The dogs shifted the air as if
scenting game, but after diligent search
one seal blow hole was found and an old
bear track, but no alsae or other small