60 DR. COOK'S OWN STORY 



gency. From Land's End we pushed out into the polar sea on our battle 

 against shifting ice to reach the southern point of Heilberg Island. 



"Here I established the base for my final effort, selecting the two best men 

 in my party, Ahweish and Stuckshook, with twenty-six of my strongest dogs. 



"Before me lay 460 miles of frozen waste broken by ice mountains devoid 

 as far as we knew of game or anything to sustain life. On our sleds were 

 supplies sufficient to last us with rigid economy just the distance we had to 

 traverse and return and no farther. Added to the gloom of the Arctic night 

 was an overcast sky, making accurate observation for several days next to 

 impossible. Onward we went, marching along the level ice, scrambling, push- 

 ing, pulling, fighting over the ice hills. The motion of floating ice could be 

 felt distinctly and served to frighten my two Eskimos who, however, after 

 a few days' experience learned to disregard the possible danger of a breakup 

 in open water. 



"Straight on we went, guided mainly by compass, pressure of time and 

 fear of exhausting supplies, rendering anything like accurate study of sur- 

 rounding conditions impossible. On March 30 the atmosphere cleared a 

 trifle, enabling me to make my first accurate observation, which showed that 

 we were at latitude 84 degrees o minutes 47 seconds and longtitude 86 de- 

 grees o minutes 36 seconds. Here I found the last signs of solid earth. Be- 

 fore us was a moving sea of ice, devoid of everything living, every trace of 

 anything animal. Neither footprints of bears, blowholes of seals, nor even 

 traces of the microscope creatures of the deep could be detected. 



"As we progressed the monctony of the ever moving sea of ice became 

 almost unbearable. But cold, merciless, penetrating cold, more even than the 

 object before us, drove us to almost frenzied effort to lay that sea behind us. 

 Forward we went, lash of duty and merciless drive of extreme cold spurring 

 us. So day by day we laid off the distance, dogs and men standing the strain 

 with marvelous fortitude. 



"Our first real glimpse of the sun we obtained on the night of April 7, 

 when it swung out over the northern ice. Added to our hardships was the 

 glare of the snow which rendered us almost snowblind at times. Sunburn 

 and frostbite attacked us on the same day; dogs were becoming emaciated 

 from the long march and savage ; the patience of my Eskimos even was begin- 

 ning to give way under the strain of that daily fight against the merciless, 

 silent, grim ice. Weary legs scantily rested by the night's rest were yet 

 eagerly spread over the distance to be marched for the day, the one impulse 



