i66 NEAREST THE POLE 



have caused such motion in the ice at Sheridan as to 

 heave the Roosevelt up high and dry on the ice-foot, 

 and in our present condition the idea of tramping all 

 those weary miles which I knew so well between Cape 

 Sheridan and our cache at Bache Peninsula did not 

 appear at all attractive. As far as we could make 

 out with the glasses, however, the ship appeared 

 to be just as we left her. 



At this camp we cached everything but instruments 

 and records to be brought in later, and headed across 

 Robeson Channel for a point a little north of Cape 

 Union, the only direction in which our reconnaissance 

 with the glass from the top of the cliffs showed the ice 

 to be practicable. We passed a blinding day at our 

 camp under the lee of a big ice hummock in the Chan- 

 nel, several miles off the Grant Land coast. Everyone 

 was completely used up with the unwonted exertion 

 of stumbling over the rough ice after our recent marches 

 upon the nearly dead level snow surface along the 

 Greenland coast. Clark did not come in until very 

 late. Pooblah, the lame Eskimo, did not come in at 

 all. I was partially snow-blind. I had hoped after 

 a few hours' sleep and rest here to push right on to the 

 ship, but what with hunger and fatigue no one seemed 

 able to sleep, and finally I told the men they could 

 kill another dog. They hesitated at first saying they 

 thought that we and the three remaining dogs would 

 be able to walk to the ship without an3rthing more 

 to eat, but finally their hunger became too great and 

 another poor crawling skeleton was killed and de- 

 voured. After the feed Ootah and another suggested 

 going in to the ship to send someone out with food 



