142 THENORTHPOLE 



twice with that purpose, but had been prevented from 

 carrying it out, partly on account of bad weather, 

 partly by reason of my anxiety for the Roosevelt, 

 which I had left in a precarious position. But now 

 the Roosevelt was safe; and though the sun was circling 

 near the horizon and the winter night would soon 

 be upon us, I decided to make the trip. 



On the 1st of October I left the ship with three 

 Eskimos, Egingwah, Ooblooyah, and Koolatoonah, 

 three sledges with teams of ten dogs each, and sup- 

 plies for two weeks only. With the sledges thus lightly 

 loaded, and the trail broken for us by the parties which 

 had preceded us, we made rapid progress, reaching 

 Porter Bay, thirty-five miles from the ship, for our 

 first camp in a few hours. 



Here we found two Eskimos, Onwagipsoo and 

 Wesharkoopsee, who had been sent out a day or two 

 before. Onwagipsoo went back to the ship, but 

 Wesharkoopsee we took along with us to carry a load 

 of supplies to Sail Harbor, which we expected to reach 

 on the next march; from there he also would return to 

 the ship. 



Our camp at Porter Bay was in the permanent 

 tent which had been erected there by the first of the 

 autumn parties, the canvas tent with the sewed-in 

 floor which has already been described. It was not 

 very cold that night, and we slept comfortably after 

 a hearty supper of beans and tea. Beans and tea! 

 Perhaps it does not sound like a Lucullan feast, but 

 after a day in the field in Grant Land it tastes like 

 one. 



