46 NEAREST THE POLE 



very heavy, in large floes, some of them several 

 miles in diameter and their edges sheer walls of 

 blue adamant. I shall be glad when we are through." 

 In one of her charges the Roosevelt left a consid- 

 erable piece of the stem just under the figure- 

 head as a souvenir upon the top of a berg-piece 

 which she was obliged to butt out of her path. 

 In another, a blue floe twelve to fifteen feet in 

 thickness was split fairly in two. 



Until 4 A. M. of the 29th we continued slowly to 

 near the Grinnell Land side. Then but little progress 

 was made for several hours, then another start which 

 was kept up with occasional interruptions until 4 p. m., 

 when after thirty-five and one-half hours of incessant 

 strain and struggle, we drove out into a small pool of 

 water under the northern point of Wrangel Bay. 

 The battle had been won by sheer brute insistence 

 and I do not believe there is another ship afloat 

 that would have survived the ordeal. 



Bartlett and I went to our rooms, worn with the 

 long tension, and I fell asleep instantly. 



It was the second birthday of a man-child in the 

 distant home, and in my dreams I saw the round 

 face with its blue eyes and crown of yellow hair, 

 smiling at me from the savage mass of black clouds 

 which shrouded the summit of the cape under which 

 we lay. God bless you, little man. 



Soon after getting into Wrangel Bay, and while 

 I was asleep, a piece of heavy ice whirling under the 

 stem twisted the back nearly off the rudder, and the 

 entire night was occupied in temporarily repairing 

 the damage. A hunting party of Eskimos sent out 



