FROM " BIG LEAD " TO 87° 6' N. LAT. 129 



left in relief. Six years ago to-day I left Conger for 

 the Greenland coast. 



At last the unprecedented gale abated, or at any 

 rate temporarily suspended, enough for me to get 

 things moving. 



After midnight the violence of the wind moderated, 

 and in the morning the sun was shining, though a con- 

 siderable drift was still running, and a heavy bank 

 of drift lay all around the horizon. 



Gradually this subsided, and I was able to get some 

 meridian observations with the transit. The drift 

 made the use of artificial horizon impracticable. These 

 observations gave our latitude 85° 12', and our longi- 

 tude but slightl}^ west of the ship at Sheridan. 



I immediately started Henson off with two of his 

 men, Panikpah and Pewahtoo, to push ahead, and at 

 the same time sent off his other man Sipsu, and one of 

 my men, Ahngodoblaho, to meet Marvin (if he was 

 north of the "big lead"), and to bring up the supplies 

 left in the small cache this side the lead if they did not 

 meet him. As I anticipated after the previous day's 

 study of the matter, the storm had improved the going. 

 On the old floes where it had not scoured the snow 

 off entirely, it had packed it harder, and the patches 

 of rough ice, and the pressure ridges were now filled 

 with snow hammered in until it would bear a mule. 

 Our tracks were much more distinct than the}^ were 

 six days before. To the north of us there was a large 

 floe stretching as far as could be seen. 



It was a day of April weather, reminding me very 

 much of the ice cap; blue sky with delicate "mare's 



