184 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



as the ice around it remains unbroken. If it does break and if 

 leads are formed he may do a certain amount of winter traveling, 

 but this traveling ceases when the first hard frost forms new ice 

 over the leads, which when open are the routes of travel. 



From the point of view of seal life there are in the polar ocean 

 certain desert areas. They are caused by the sluggishness or ab- 

 sence of currents, just as deserts on land are caused by lack of 

 rainfall and porousness of the soil. And just as land deserts are 

 restricted in area, so are the ocean deserts. The experienced over- 

 land traveler crossing a new continent would know when he was 

 entering a desert. It would then be a matter of judgment whether 

 he was to turn back and give up his journey or whether he should 

 attempt skirting the desert or making a dash across it. So it is 

 when the ice traveler who depends on game for subsistence comes 

 to one of these sea deserts. The signs are in the thickness and 

 evident age of the ice, in the fewness of the leads and of other 

 signs of motion, and in the absence of traces of seals on such patches 

 of young ice as may be visible. Just as there are on land arid and 

 semi-arid areas, so there are at sea regions of scarcity of seals and 

 regions of their nearly complete absence. But just as on land a 

 semi-arid belt with scant vegetation may be but the introduction 

 to a real desert, so the area of scarce animal life into which we 

 were entering might merge later into another of total barrenness. 



With summer imminent we all felt that speed was the main 

 consideration, both for success and safety. Our loads were getting 

 lighter as the supply of food grew smaller. But instead of restrict- 

 ing our rations and tightening our belts we used to eat three full 

 meals a day, and we fed the dogs almost to surfeit, with the idea 

 that the more quickly the loads were lightened the greater our 

 speed would be. We should really have thrown away one or two 

 hundred pounds of food at the start, but we never had quite the 

 strength of mind to do that. For one thing, the chocolate and 

 malted milk were as yet more palatable to my companions than 

 the less familiar seal meat. We pampered ourselves in disregard of 

 good judgment and lightened the loads no faster than much feeding 

 by men and dogs could do it. 



We were making a new departure in polar exploration, not only 

 in intending to live by hunting when the food was gone but also 

 in gormandizing while yet we had food. We were traveling over ice 

 that floated over an unknown ocean, away from all known lands 

 and without any intention of turning back soon. I think I have 

 read nearly all north polar literature and I never read of any party 



