76 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [April 



Fortunately, there would not be another full moon 

 until May 9th; by that time we should be on land. 

 The two great opposing forces which guard the secrets 

 of the Polar Sea are pressure ridges and open water, 

 the former smashing sledges, wearing out the dogs, 

 discouraging the men, and retarding progress; the lat- 

 ter decisive and convincing — thus far and no farther. 

 Now that the high tides were over, with the thermom- 

 eter at twenty below zero, these leads would soon 

 freeze. 



In the morning we were through and over the pressure 

 ridges in a very short time, our route leading us out 

 upon a long, beautiful stretch of smooth ice. We 

 hopped on our sledges, snapped the whips, and away 

 we went! WTien on the verge of believing that "Old 

 Torngak," the evil spirit of the North, was, as Oo-tah 

 said, "either having trouble with his wife or had for- 

 gotten us," a lead was thrown across our path about 

 one hundred yards wide and extending apparently 

 around the world. Ice was forming out from both 

 banks, a thin line of black extending down through the 

 center. Although a strong southeast wind was blowing, 

 as yet there seemed to be no pressure. Clear, cold, calm 

 weather is the daily prayer of a man on the Polar Sea. 

 We were confident that we could cross in the morning. 



An igloo was constructed and a sounding attempted. 

 WTien 200 fathoms of wire had been unreeled. Green 

 remarked that we had found a deep hole. WTien 500 

 had disappeared, I thought he was right. WTien 1,000 

 was reached, we simply looked at each other. A steady 

 strain was kept upon the wire, yet not the slightest per- 

 ceptible difference could be detected from start to 

 finish. Nearly 2,000 fathoms were lowered into that 



