FROM "BIG LEAD" TO 87° 6' N. LAT. 127 



ice was already jammed to the eastward, and the 

 old floes too heavy (and with no young ice between) 

 to permit any compacting or shutting up; the other 

 that the central pack (detached from the land ice 

 along the big lead) was moving eastward as one mass. 

 I could not help thinking that in the latter case, the 

 differences of wind pressure and water resistance of 

 the different floes would cause more or less motion 

 among them, or at least cause strains that would be 

 more pronounced. It would be surprising if the " Hud- 

 son " was not wide open now, and I hoped Marvin and 

 Clark were across it with their supplies, and the former 

 near enough to overtake me in a march or two from 

 here. If the " Hudson" was open and they the other 

 side of it, it would necessitate a decided modification 

 of my plans, for the season was too late now for me 

 to wait for them to come up. I must push on with 

 what I had here, and take the chances of good going, 

 long marches, and the certainty of eating dog again 

 before I got back to land. 



April loth was another miserable day. The wind 

 not quite so violent, but still continuing with a heavy 

 drift that made travelling out of the question. 



Temporarily at least I had got past chafing at 

 the delay and simply longed for the cessation of 

 the infernal music, and to see the bright sun 

 glinting on the ice-fields again, as a thin-blooded 

 invalid in winter longs for the soft breath of 

 summer. 



I cheated as much of the time away as possible, 

 planning what I would do when I got back, and then 

 I ran against the black wall, unless I win here, all these 



