FIRST OPEN WATER 225 



Evidently the ice was all abroad in every direction, 

 and the high temperature and snow accompanying the 

 west wind proved that ther» was a large amount of open 

 water in that direction. 



The outlook was not pleasant, but as some com- 

 pensation the going was not quite so rough. As we 

 advanced, I was surprised to find that as yet none of the 

 leads cut Bartlett's trail. Consequently we made good 

 progress, and though the march was distinctly longer 

 than the previous one, we reached Bartlett's igloo in 

 good time. 



Here I found a note from Bartlett which had evi- 

 dently been despatched by an Eskimo, informing me 

 that he was in camp about a mile farther north — 

 held up by open water. This explained the black, 

 ominous band which I had been watching for hours 

 on the northern horizon, and which had gradually 

 risen as we approached until it was now almost 

 overhead. 



Pushing on, we soon reached the captain's camp. 

 There I found the familiar unwelcome sight which I 

 had so often before me on the expedition of 1905-06 — 

 the white expanse of ice cut by a river of inky black 

 water, throwing off dense clouds of vapor which 

 gathered in a sullen canopy overhead, at times swinging 

 lower with the wind and obscuring the opposite shore 

 of this malevolent Styx. 



The lead had opened directly through the heavy 

 floes, and, considering that these floes are sometimes one 

 hundred feet in thickness, and of almost unimaginable 

 weight, the force that could open such a river through 

 them is comparable with the forces that threw up the 



