304 THENORTHPOLE 



a sigh of relief when we left the 87th parallel 

 behind. 



It will be recalled, perhaps, that though the expedi- 

 tion of 1905-06 started for the Pole from the northern 

 shore of Grant Land, just as did this last expedition, 

 the former expedition returned by a different route, 

 reaching land again on the Greenland coast. This 

 result was caused by the fact that strong winds carried 

 the ice upon which we traveled far to the eastward 

 of our upward course. This time, however, we met 

 with no such misfortune. For the most part we found 

 the trail renewed by our supporting parties easily recog- 

 nizable and in most cases in good condition. Moreover 

 there was an abundance of food both for men and for 

 dogs, and so far as equipment went we were stripped 

 as if for racing. Nor must the stimulating effects 

 of the party's high spirits be forgotten. Everything, 

 in short, was in our favor. We crowded on all speed 

 for the first five miles of our return journey. Then 

 we came to a narrow crack which was filled with recent 

 ice, which furnished a chance to try for a sounding, 

 a thing that had not been feasible at the Pole itself 

 on account of the thickness of the ice. Here, however, 

 we were able to chop through the ice until we struck 

 water. Our sounding apparatus gave us 1500 fathoms 

 of water with no bottom. As the Eskimos were 

 reeling in, the wire parted and both the lead and wire 

 went to the bottom. With the loss of the lead and 

 wire, the reel became useless, and was thrown away, 

 lightening Ooqueah's sledge by eighteen pounds. The 

 first camp, at 89° 25', was reached in good time, and 

 the march would have been a pleasant one for me 



