THE ROOSEVELT'S ESCAPE 175 



charge of alcohol, the most effective size of broken ice 

 for melting, and so on. The question of weights is a 

 most important factor in all sledge equipment, and it 

 was necessary constantly to study to obtain the maxi- 

 mum effectiveness with the minimum weight and bulk. 

 For relaxation, I devoted many hours to a new form 

 of taxidermy. 



About the middle of November I had a large snow 

 igloo built on the top of the hatch on the main deck of 

 the Roosevelt, which we called "the studio," and Borup 

 and I began to experiment with flashlight pictures of 

 the Eskimos. They had become accustomed to seeing 

 counterfeit presentments of themselves on paper, and 

 were very patient models. We also got some good 

 moonlight pictures — time exposures varying from ten 

 minutes to two or three hours. 



On this last expedition I did not permit myself to 

 dream about the future, to hope, or to fear. On the 

 1905-06 expedition I had done too much dreaming; this 

 time I knew better. Too often in the past had I found 

 myself face to face with impassable barriers. When- 

 ever I caught myself building air castles, I would either 

 attack some work requiring intense application of the 

 mind, or would go to sleep — it was hard sometimes to 

 fight back the dreams, especially in my solitary walks 

 on the ice-foot under the arctic moon. 



On the evening of November 11, there was a brilliant 

 paraselene, two distinct halos and eight false moons 

 being visible in the southern sky. This phenomenon 

 is not unusual in the Arctic, and is caused by the frost 

 crystals in the air. On this particular occasion the 

 inner halo had a false moon at its zenith, another at 



