CAPE SHERIDAN AT LAST 119 



As an extra precaution, I had the Eskimos with 

 axes bevel off the edge of the ice-foot abreast of the 

 ship, to facilitate her rising if she should be squeezed 

 by the heavy floes outside. It was snowing lightly 

 all day long; but I went ashore, walking along the ice- 

 foot to the next river, and up to the summit of Black 

 Cape. An occasional walk on land was a relief from 

 the stench and disorder of the ship, for the dogs kept 

 the Roosevelt in a very unclean condition. Many 

 persons have asked how we could endure the presence 

 of nearly two hundred and fifty dogs on the deck of 

 a small ship; but every achievement has its drawbacks, 

 and it must not be forgotten that without the dogs 

 we could not have reached the Pole. 



At this point we landed another cache, similar to 

 the one at Lincoln Bay, to be ready for anything that 

 might happen. 



On the 4th, the wind came strong from the south, 

 and as there seemed to be a little open water ahead, 

 at eight in the morning we started to get out of our 

 berth. It took an hour to break up the "slob" ice 

 which had cemented about the ship. We were happy 

 to be under way again; but at the delta just ahead of 

 us the ice refused to open, the drift ice from the south 

 was coming up rapidly before the wind, and we were 

 compelled to hurry back to our former berth below 

 Black Cape. We did not get in again without some 

 trouble as the strong wind made the Roosevelt hard 

 to manage. The starboard quarter boat was badly 

 smashed against the corner of a big berg piece, and 

 the starboard corner of the forward deck house was 

 almost ripped from the decking. 



