COOK IN THE ANTARCTIC AND IN ALASKA 105 



and tea. Wood alcohol was taken for fuel. The food and fuel con- 

 sumption allowed for was thirty-four ounces daily for each man, 

 and this allowance proved so liberal that their supplies lasted for 

 nearly thirteen days. 



In addition they took a silk tent, a sleeping-bag for each man, 

 rubber floor-cloth, axes, a photographic camera, and a small assort- 

 ment of domestic and scientific implements. Dressed in heavy 

 woolens, they took no extra clothing except stockings. As it 

 proved, they underestimated the Arctic chill they would have to 

 endure, and only that their sleeping-bags had been made in sections 

 and could be used as ponchos, they would not have been able to 

 endure the severe cold of even the middle height. 



Thus equipped, the party set out on the morning of September 

 8th, from an altitude of one thousand feet, on a bright, clear day, 

 with temperature near freezing. Trails lay before them, first one 

 made by moose and bear, then a blazed trail made by gold pros- 

 pectors, and farther on an old caribou track that yielded excellent 

 travel. At the end of the second day they crossed a bend in the 

 glacier and camped on a mossy point about fifteen miles from the 

 mountain they sought. 



Here they lost one of their party. Dokkin was a new member 

 of the expedition and became so frightened by the crevasses in the 

 glaciers that he refused to go any farther, saying that he would 

 not trust his life to the security of his footing, Cook and Barrille 

 were older hands at the work and did not hesitate to jump crevasses. 

 However, as they did not then intend to climb more than about twelve 

 thousand feet, and from this point outline a route for a climb the 

 next year, they felt that Dokkin was not needed and sent him back 

 with instructions to plant emergency caches on the return route. 



On the next day their journey was resumed, the snow here 

 being hard and offering a splendid surface for a rapid march. Yet 

 it added an element of danger by bridging crevasses in a treacherous 

 manner. As the sun set that day, from the height they had reached 



