Amador ledger., 1909-11-12

were spanned with jump. Soon they
disappeared in the rush of driving
snow. The crack Of the whips and
the rebound Of cheering voices were
the last which we heard of the faithful
savage supporters. They had followed
not for pay, but for real desire to
be helpful, from the dark days of the
ending of night to the bright nights
of the coming double days. and their
parting enforced II pang Of loneliness.
Another Sleep Before the Start.
With a snow charged blast in our
faces 1t was quite impossible for us
to start. so we withdrew TO the snow
igIoo. entered our bags and slept a few
hours longer Al noon the horizon
cleared. 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 1000
pounds of freight were packed on our
sleds. 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
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 Il course slightly west of
north we soon sank the bold headland
which raises the northern point of
Heiberg island.
Camp Is Pitched.
After run of twenty-six miles we
pitched camp on foe berg of unusual
height. There were many big hunl-
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 curled up and went to sleep
without a call, as if they knew there
would be no food until the morrow.
My wild companions covered their
faces with their convenient long hair
and sank quietly into comfortable
slumber. but for me sleep was quite
impossible. 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 ForeteII Return.
. 1t 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.
/ 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 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 win-Ziegler
expedition had abandoned large
cache of supplies. 1t appeared not i'm
probable also that 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 g.
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 humid chill which pierced
to the bones. The temperature was
minus Sc +. light air came from
the west. and the sun burned in a