EXPEDITION OF 1898-1902 321 



and not until April 2d could I send back the Eskimos 

 of my division. 



On leaving Etah I had not decided whether I should 

 go north from Conger via Cape Hecla, or take the route 

 along the northwest coast of Greenland. Now I 

 decided upon the latter. The lateness of the season 

 and the condition of the dogs might militate against 

 a very long journey ; and if I chose the Hecla route and 

 failed of my utmost aims, the result would be complete 

 failure. If, on the other hand, I chose the Greenland 

 route and found it impossible to proceed northward 

 over the pack, I still had an unknown coast to exploit 

 and the opportunity of doing valuable work. Later 

 developments showed my decision to be a fortunate 

 one. 



I planned to start from Conger the 9th of April, but 

 stormy weather delayed tbe departure until the nth, 

 when I got away with seven sledges. 



At the first camp beyond Conger my best Eskimo 

 was taken sick, and the following day I brought him 

 back to Conger, leaving the rest of the party to cross 

 the channel to the Greenland side, where I would over- 

 take them. This I did two or three days later, and 

 we began our journey up the northwest Greenland 

 coast. As far as Cape Sumner we had almost con- 

 tinuous road-making through very rough ice. Before 

 reaching Cape Sumner we could see a dark water sky, 

 lying beyond Cape Brevoort, and knew that we should 

 find open water there. 



From Cape Sumner to Polaris Boat Camp, in New- 

 man Bay, we cut a continuous road. Here we were 

 stalled until the 21st by continued and severe winds. 



