190 THENORTHPOLE 



in with his men and Marvin's supporting party of four. 

 We were just beginning to be worried about them, as the 

 ice of Robeson Channel in the dark of winter is not the 

 safest road for a sledge party. The captain reported 

 that they had been only six hours in crossing the chan- 

 nel; but, though he had reconnoitered the whole plain 

 of the Polaris Promontory, he had seen no musk-oxen. 



By the end of January we could see a faint redness 

 in the south at noon, and the twilight was increasing. 

 The last moon of the winter was now circling in the 

 sky, and I wrote in my diary: "Thank Heaven, no 

 more moons!" No matter how many dark winters a 

 man may have gone through in the Arctic, the longing 

 for the sun does not grow less intense. 



In the February moon Bartlett went to Cape Hecla, 

 Goodsell moved more supplies from Hecla to Cape 

 Colan, and Borup went to Markham Inlet on another 

 hunting trip. Before leaving, the doctor completed a 

 record of the approximate mean temperatures for the 

 season, which showed that every month except October 

 had been colder than three years before. For Decem- 

 ber the mean was eight degrees lower. 



Marvin was still at Cape Bryant, but the last of the 

 February parties came in on the 9th, and from that time 

 on we were all busy preparing for the great and last 

 journey. On Sunday night, February 14, I had a 

 brief talk with the Eskimo men, telling them what we 

 proposed to do, what was expected of them, and what 

 each man who went to the farthest point with me would 

 get when he returned: boat, tent, Winchester repeater, 

 shotgun, ammunition, box of tobacco, pipes, cartridges, 

 numerous knives, hatchets, et cetera. 



