Evening star., 1922-10-08

to guard against a possible beset-
ment, as everything was undoubtedly
drifting eastward and freezing tenn
peratures might cement all into
compacted mass. Within an hour
Robinson reported that we were
| slowly being hemmed in on all sides.
All hands were called and, foresar
and Jumbo set, 1 decided to let the
Bowdoin jog during the night and If
possible keep moving. thus breaking
up the newly forming Ice
At 3 am. we started our engine
and proceeded southwark through the
pack. holding a course as far to the
eastward as possible. At o'clock
our situation looked serious. for we
were slowly but surely being sur
rounded and ahead of US cul de
sac. There was no retreat. Two or
| three days here in early September
| certainly meant ten months in the
| pack-not an encouraging prospect.
since the two main objects OF bur
expedition. were geographical and
magnetic, neither of which could be
done II held a prisoner in the pack.
lTHE Bowdoin. although exception
L ally strong in her construction.
was not built for bucking ice
She lacks the necessary element OF
weight and consequently momentum
to split or grind under her forefoor
or push aside an ordinary pan which
weighs in the neighborhood Of 100000
pounds But / felt convinced thai
the attempt would never iniure her
and that she might possibly force
herself though. in spite Of serious
handicap of a bent propeller. White
house. the engineer. was anxious 20
see what she could really do against
such heavy ice
! i turned her into il with some mis-
givings, I will confess. slowing her
down when a direct blow was i'm
minent and ordering full speed ahead
when pushing or prying the foes
apart. which is done by using the
ship as a lever and either one Of the
two foes as a fulcrun-
/ To our delight she worked through
very nicely and much more easily
than ! had anticipated. She proved
her worth right there by taking US
out of very bad hole.
| At am. We were ir open water
and encountered even a gentle swell,
indicative of the fact that there was
a considerable stretch of water to
the southwest. Under all sail We
proceeded southwest magnetic or
south southeast true through fiurries
of snow.
A time sight at 2 am. had placed
US in IS degrees l3 minutes west
long. or well in the middle OF Fox
channel.
In the evening the wind veered 10
the northeast and began TO blow
heavily. with quite a sea. Rather
than go into the pack 10 leeward
and a possible encounter with shoal
ground, i decided to heave to during
the night under jumbo and foresail-
With the helm hard down, jumbo fat
and foresail with started sheets, she
lay like / a duck, slowly jogging TO
windward.
THE mate called me at 2:l5 am.
i and we swung her off before the
wind into waters as yet unplowed
by the stem of any ship for the mouth
of the Komkiljusk river, which is
shown on the map as the outlet or
/ NetteIiing lake. in the interior OF
Baffln Land Winter quarters there
would enable US 10 do d big geo
graphical work, as, with dog teams.
If natives could be found. we might
sledge northward along the unknown
coast. and also into the interior un-
known to white man.
As our distance by dead reckoning
was only fifty miles. going at nine
knots under sail and power. this
could easily be covered in six hours.
| 1t was very evident from the conmo-
tion of the water and the short cross
sea. which increased with our dis
tance sailed, that we were in a sec
tion of the bay disturbed by strong
| tides If our latest maps were cor
rect we should sight land certainly
by 8 am.
| To our surprise, although 1t was
| fairly clear, no land could be seen.
We went on for one hour more and
still failed to sight anything! We
knew then for a certainty that our
mapmakers and eeographers were far
from the truth in their conjectural
delfneation of the western coast OF
Baffin Land.
The sea was now very rough and
not running as seas should run. ana
of an apple green color. plainly de-
noting a white sand bottom. AS an
artist notes color in a landscape, so
a seaman studies the water. a dark
green denotes yellow sand; black
ish green. dark sand; a brownish or
black look to the water is a certain
indication of reefs or rocks.
Where were We and where was
Baffin Land? A careful time sight
for longitude revealed the startling
fact that We were in IS degrees Ia
minutes west longitude, or. in other
words, we were in on the land fif-
was high time to sound and determine
how far We were above it. a depth
of eleven fathoms explained the color
of the water, which was shoaling
rapidly and becoming rougher every
minute.
At 10 am. the close pack could he
seen all along under lee and the east
ward, but not a trace Of land or any,
thing which resembled it. Very evil
IDENTIFY we were in a deep indentation
of the coast line. which trended
southeast from Cape Willoughby, and
pof ooSt aofire1y pp1ika that de-