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

i which does not appear here. 1t DeiQnss
| to the specific details of the history of
the exploration. which will appear in the
| later publication of scientific data.
This work. like the effort of the foot
| In the daily drive of duty, became more
or less automatic, and does not at any
time enter as an active part of the story.
AS we now run along over seemingly end
| less fields Of ice. the physical appearances
| come under a careful scrutiny. watch
ed daily for possible signs of DANGEROUS
| failure in strength, for serious disability
| now meant q fatal termination.
| A disabled man could neither continue
! nor return, but every examination gave
another reason to push human endurance
| to the limit of the strain of every fiber
and cell. The 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 1t was
difficult to await the melting of the ice
| at camping time.
In two sittings-evening and morning
| each took an average Of three quarts of
water daily. This included the tea, an
| other legend of the luxury of an occasion
| al soup. There was water about every
where in heaps. but it was in crystals.
and before the thirst could be quenched
several ounces Of precious fuel. which had
been carried thousands Of miles, must be
used. And still this water. so expensive
and so necessary to us. ultimately be-
| came the greatest bane to comfort. 1t
escaped through the pores of the skin,
saturated the boots, formed a band Of ice
| under the knee and belt of frost about
the waist, while the face was nearly al
| ways incased in mask of icicles from the
breath-a necessary part of our hard lot
in life, and We learned to take the tor
ture philosophically. IRON ice it comes,
to ice it 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 discernible line
of demarkation for the fields and it was
quite impossible to determine II we were
on land or sea ice. The barometer indi-
Gated no elevation. but the ice had the
hard, waving surface of glacial ice. with
only superficial crevasses. The water
obtained from this was not salty, but
all of the upper surface Of the ice of the
polar sea makes similar water. The nau-
tical observations did not seem to indi-
cate Il drift, but nevertheless the COM
bined tabulations do not warrant the posi-
tive assertion of either land or sea for
this area.
An Air Line Course.
This ice gave cheering prospect.
plain of purple and blue ran in easy
fluctuations to the limits of vision with
out the usual barriers of uplifted blocks.
Over it a direct air line course was posi-
BILE. 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 snow
yxyaS ole TOR MOO II To civ
footing. The loneliness. the monotony.
the hardship of steady, unrelieved travel
were now keenly felt.
1t is not often that mans horsepower
is put to the test as ours was. We were
compelled to develop working energy
to the limit of animal capacity. Day
after day we had pushed along at the
same steady pace over plains of frost
and through mental desert.
AS the eye opened at the end of an icy
slumber the fire was lighted little by 1T
tie. the stomach was filled with liquids
and solids most cOid-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 stsnding became impossi-
ble-longer in light winds. shorter in
strong winds. but always until the frost
became numb and heavy.
Then came the arduous task Of building
a snowhouse. 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 in
mental recreation. nothing to arouse the
soul from its icy Enclosure.
To eat, to sleep. to press one foot ahead
of the other, was our steady vocation.
Like the horse to the cart, but we had
not his advantage of an agreeable eli
Ia ,;,l>f
Where Madness Sits.
Words and pictures cannot adequately
describe the maddening influence of this
sameness of polar glitter, combined with
bitter winds. extreme cold and an over
worked body. To make a severe test for
myself there was always the encourage
ment of arctic achievement-the outcome
of ultimate success. But for my young
most beyond endurance. Their weari-
ness was made evident by a lax use of
the whip and an Indifferent urging of the
dogs. They were. however. brave and
ing selfish ambitions or uncomfortable
passions seriously to interfere with the
main effort of the expedition.
On the morning of April II a strain of
point. For days there had been a steady
cutting wind from the west, which drove
despair to it's lowest reaches. The west
again blackened, to renew its soul
despairing blast. The sun was screened
with ugly vapors, and the path was as
cherries as the arctic night.
No torment could be worse than that
never-ceasing rush of icy air. Ahwelah
bent over his sled and refused to move.
His dogs turned and looked inquiringly;
l walked over and stood by his side.
Etukishook came near aud stood motion
less. staring blankly at the southern
skies. Large tears fell from Ahwelah's
eyes and piled a little frost Of sadness in
the blaze of his own shadow for sew
eral minutes: not a word was uttered, but
knew that each felt the time had come
to free the letters of human passions.
Slowly Ahwelah said: "Cnne Sinig pa
ovabtonic i-o-doria." CIT is we'll to die
beyond is impossible.')
CHAPTER XII.
The observations of April IA gave lati-
| tude 50 deg. p min., longitude 90 deg.
81 min. We were but one hundred 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. There had
been little drift but the ice before us