NORTH POLE OF THE WINDS 



him out before the icy water penetrated his cloth- 

 ing. The contents of his sled, however, received 

 a thorough soaking. About one in the afternoon 

 we reached the foot of the glacier. The wind had 

 gone down a little and we decided to ascend the 

 ice-cap immediately. From the small lake beds 

 we were on we found a moraine leading up to the 

 surface of the ice. The driving snow made visi- 

 bility poor, but I was able to see the lake named 

 Taserssiak and the ice-arm near it but about two 

 miles to the south. We fought the wind along 

 the moraine for several miles. The ice was neither 

 fissured nor crevassed. Long rolling hummocks 

 bordered the moraine, but we had a comparatively 

 easy time. At six o'clock we were about ten miles 

 inside the ice edge and we now decided to make 

 camp in the lee of a small nunatak — an island of 

 rock within the sea of ice. 



Outside the wind is blowing great guns and in- 

 side it is none too comfortable. I estimate that 

 we are now probably four miles from the location 

 where we had expected to find the plane. Several 

 times during the afternoon we sighted the third 

 of the three moraines which were followed by 

 Hassell and Cramer on their descent from the ice. 

 The surface of the ice is wet and slippery as there 

 is only a trace of snow on the leeward side of the 



338 



