THE ROOSEVELT'S ESCAPE 177 



roar into a tumbling chaos of ice blocks, some upheaving, 

 some going under, and a big rafter, thirty feet high, 

 formed at the edge of the ice-foot within twenty feet of 

 the ship. The invading mass grew larger and larger 

 and steadily advanced toward us. The grounded piece 

 off our starboard beam was forced in and driven against 

 the big ice block under our starboard quarter. The 

 ship shook a little, but the ice block did not move. 



With every pulse of the tide the pressure and the 

 motion continued, and in less than an hour from the 

 time I had come on deck, a great floe berg was jammed 

 against the side of the Roosevelt from amidships to the 

 stern. It looked for a minute as if the ship were going 

 to be pushed bodily aground. 



All hands were called, and every fire on board was 

 extinguished. I had no fear of the ship being crushed by 

 the ice, but she might be thrown on her side, when the 

 coals, spilled from a stove, might start that horror of 

 an arctic winter night, the "ship on fire." The 

 Eskimos were thoroughly frightened and set up their 

 weird howling. Several families began to gather their 

 belongings, and in a few minutes women and children 

 were going over the port rail onto the ice, and making 

 for the box houses on the shore. 



The list of the Roosevelt toward the port or shore 

 side grew steadily greater with the increasing pressure 

 from outside. With the turn of the tide about half -past 

 one in the morning, the motion ceased, but the Roose- 

 velt never regained an even keel until the following 

 spring. The temperature that night was 25° below 

 zero, but it did not seem so very cold. 



Marvin's tidal igloo was split in two, but he con- 



