16 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Aug. 



navigable months — June, July, and August — are entirely 

 dependent upon the strength of the prevailing winds 

 during the year. Strong prevailing northerly winds pre- 

 dict to a certainty an open season, especially if in com- 

 bination with strong southerly winds. The latter 

 break up the great northern ice-fields; the former re- 

 move them. In 1857 southerly winds blew incessantly 

 for six weeks, with the result that all whaling-ships 

 were beset and two were crushed. In 1830 twenty -two 

 ships were crushed, one, the Race Horse, being literally 

 turned inside out and her keel forced up through her 

 deck. One thousand men retreated to the Danish set- 

 tlements and all arrived in safety except two, who died 

 from the effects of liquor. 



Some years are really remarkable in that apparently 

 all the northern seas have been swept bare of ice by 

 strong northerly winds. In 1871 the Polaris, under 

 the command of Charles Francis Hall, plowed through 

 an almost iceless sea to the extremely high latitude of 

 82° 11', which was farther north than any ship had 

 gone under steam. In 1881 the Proteus, under the com- 

 mand of Greely, proceeded through Baffin Bay, Smith 

 Sound, Kane Basin, and Kennedy Channel, hardly de- 

 viating from her course. In 1908 the Roosevelt steamed 

 straight on toward Cape York, encountering no ice 

 whatever. The year 1913 was just such a year. A 

 record in crossing Melville Bay simply depended upon 

 the speed of the ship. 



At 10 P.M. on the 14th the fog above our heads dis- 

 appeared completely, revealing a blue sky and massive 

 black mountains well off the starboard quarter. The 

 surface-lying mist quickly dissolved, enabling us to 

 recognize, well astern, the basalt shaft known as the 



