no NEAREST THE POLE 



coming, myself in touch with and pushing those ahead 

 of me and puUing those in the rear, so to speak, in a 

 position where I could straighten out any little hitches 

 and keep the distribution of the parties such as to 

 minimise the work of igloo building, and prevent con- 

 fusion rising when two or three parties got bunched 

 together. It was brute hard work and bitter cold. 

 The brandy continued frozen and oil viscid, but every- 

 one was eager and cheerful. The Captain, Doctor, 

 and Clark on the qui vive all the time, and the Eskimos 

 hustling with their usual willingness. On the 2 2d, 

 at my camp on a big floe selected for this purpose, 

 cache number two was established. Although the 

 work was not moving with the speed which I could 

 have desired, it was moving with such apparent 

 smoothness that I constantly feared some insurmount- 

 able obstacle was waiting for us just ahead, and 

 yet I felt that it might be that twenty years of 

 work, disappointment and sacrifice would perhaps be 

 allowed to win. During the night of the 21st at 

 this camp the wind came on fresh from the west, 

 blowing with distinct fierceness all night and day of 

 the 2 2d and causing pronounced changes in the ice. 

 Our big floe cracked and rumbled frequently and the 

 walls of our igloo were split but not so seriously 

 as to be beyond repair. Wind shelters were con- 

 structed for the dogs and they were double rationed. 

 Although a bitter day, the 2 2d was the first day 

 since I left land that I was held up by the weath- 

 er, and I could have travelled on this day had 

 there been any necessity for it, but to have done 

 so would only have piled my party up on top 



