NORTH POLE OF THE WINDS 



Eskimos I started out under packs at seven-thirty 

 on the trail for Camp 2. Herz and Belknap had 

 preceded us going in the canoe, which had been 

 loaded down with the sled and the equivalent of 

 about six packs of provisions and equipment. The 

 night was still and relatively warm and the in- 

 sects correspondingly troublesome. 



The success of the ice-cap expedition we had 

 long known would depend in large measure on 

 whether we should be able to use a canoe on the 

 braided and boisterous Watson River with its 

 many rapids, but especially those which we had 

 designated as the Lower, Middle and Upper Rap- 

 ids. Our earlier reconnaissance had convinced 

 Belknap that this was feasible and so this difficult 

 and arduous task had been entrusted to him with 

 Herz as his assistant. From the Dory Camp they 

 set out with the sled balanced across the gunwales. 

 After paddling about a mile they found it neces- 

 sary to wade with one pushing and the other pull- 

 ing the loaded canoe. In places the sand along 

 the river was so saturated with water that first 

 one and then the other of them would sink in a 

 local quicksand, but finally they succeeded in 

 reaching the Lower Rapids at about half-past two 

 in the morning. Here the canoe was dragged into 

 a sheltered bay and with the more valuable sup- 



164 



