The gold leaf., 1909-11-04

necessary 10 US, uItlmately 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
icicles from the breath-a necessary
part of our hard lot in life. and we
learned to take the torture philoso-
phically From ice it 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 demarcation for the
fields. and il was quite impossible to
determine if we were on land or sea
ice. The barometer indicated no ele
yation, but the ice had the hard. wav-
ing surface of glacial ice, with only
superficial crevasses. The water OBJ
tained 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 it 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 working
energy to the limit of animal capacity.
Mt the same steady pace over plains 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
int hnr nrron
and paced off the days pull under the
lash of duty. We worked until stand
ing became impOssible-lOngcr 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 Il snow house. In this the eyes. no
longer able to wink, closed. but soon
the empty stomach complained, and it
was filed up again-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 il mental recre-
alton, nothing to arouse the soul from
its icy inclosure.
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 saneness of polar glitter, COM
bined with bitter winds. extreme cold
and an overwOrked body. 10 me there
was always the inspiration Of antici-
patton of the outcome of ultimate sue
cess. but for my young savage COM
panOnS it was a torment almost be-
yond endurance. Their wearineSs 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
main effort of the expedition.
On the morning of April 13 a strain
of agitating torment reached il break
ing point For days there had been
steady cutting wind from the west
which drove despair to its lowest
reaches. The west again blackened
to renew its.soul despairing blast The
sun was screened with ugly vapors.
and the path was as cheerleSS as the
arctic night.
No torment could be worse than that
never ceasing rush of icy air Ahwe-
lah bent over his sled and refused to
move. His dogs turned and looked in
Quiringly. ] walked over and stood
by his side Etukishuk came near and
stood motiOnlesS, staring blankly at the
southern skies. Large tears fell from
Ahwelah's eyes and piled little frost
of sadness in the blue of his own shad-
ow for several minutes Not word
was uttered. but knew that each felt
that the time had come to free the fet-
ters of human passions. Slowly Ahwe-
lab said. "Unne sinig pa-oo-ah- tonic
i-o-doria CIT is we'll to die-beyond is
impOssible'').
~ HE observations Of April ii gave
latitude So degrees 81 minutes,
longitude 90 degrees 50 minutes.
We were but 100 miles from the
pole, but there was nothing to relieve
the mental strain Of the icy despair
The wind came with the same satanic
cut from the west.
With teeth set and newly sharpened
resolutions, we set out for that last 100
miles. Some dogs had gone into the
stomachs Of their hungry companions,
but there still remained q sufficient
pull of we'll tried brute force for each
sled. and. though their noisy vigor had
been lost in the long drag. they still