1915] THE WINTER OF 1915-16 209 



started on the forty-eight-mile trip to Etah. Darkness 

 and open water both uttered a decisive "No!" to this 

 plan before we had been gone two hours; then it began 

 to snow, and continued to do so until the 8th, giving us 

 an opportunity to try the northward trail once more. 

 Leading off from the front of the Clements Markham 

 Glacier was a narrow strip of black water, and on the 

 other side were two dog- teams with their drivers curled up 

 on their loads and sound asleep, waiting for the lead to 

 freeze. Lashing two sledges together, the older men 

 made a bridge over which the two boys brought their 

 sledges and their dogs. Their report of the condition 

 of the ice northward precluded any further attempt to 

 advance for that day. 



On the 13th we were off again, encountering at the 

 same place the same lead, but twice as wide. Chafing 

 considerably at the long delay, I told the Eskimos that 

 we must go over the glacier. We found this covered 

 with nearly two feet of soft snow through which we 

 wallowed and waded without snow-shoes, fairly tumbling 

 down the northern side, the sledges and dogs nearly 

 buried. From here we wallowed and waded again for 

 a mile, finally landing upon the hard ice-foot. What 

 a relief it was to snap the whip and feel the jumping, 

 racing sledge bounding into Peteravik! 



Three o'clock of the next day found us rounding Cape 

 Chalon and laboriously tracking through deep snow all 

 the way to Sulwuddy. Here, after a consultation with 

 the Eskimos, it was decided, because of the extremely 

 heavy wind of the day before, that our chances for mak- 

 ing Etah were excellent. For five miles the sea ice was 

 perfect, cleared and swept by the wind. 



About two miles below Retreat Cove open water com- 



