398 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



Wales Straits proper, and almost immediately came in touch with 

 densely packed bay ice. But as the wind was from the Victoria 

 Island side we were able to make northing by following the Victoria 

 Island coast through the lane between the land and the ice kept 

 open by the offshore breeze. 



Beyond Deans Dundas Bay the wind suddenly shifted and 

 began to blow from Banks Island, bringing heavy ice rapidly down 

 upon us. This looked serious, for there was no shelter and the 

 ship was heavily loaded. In chartering the Polar Bear it had been 

 agreed that Captain Lane should leave his own cargo in the bottom 

 of the ship and that our goods should be taken in on top. Through 

 the circumstances of having to pack things as rapidly as we could 

 get them from the Ruby, it happened that, although some of our 

 most valuable possessions were deep in the ship, many articles 

 of the greatest importance were on the deck. When I purchased 

 the Bear I would have given a great deal to have her free from 

 Captain Lane's goods which, although of some commercial value, 

 were only a handicap to us, as, for instance, several tons of canned 

 fruits, vegetables and meats. Now when we saw the ice coming 

 down I called both Gonzales and Seymour in consultation and 

 asked whether it was practicable to get at and to throw away these 

 canned goods. I thought it possible that in loading they might 

 have kept a shaft open so that some of the material underneath 

 might be accessible. Both officers agreed that the ship was a foot 

 or eighteen inches deeper in the water than she ought to be for 

 fighting ice, but that the canned goods and other worthless stuff 

 were inaccessible. Had we lightened the ship it would have had 

 to be by throwing away the deck cargo which consisted of the things 

 we most needed, such as fuel oil for the engines, kerosene for lamps 

 in winter quarters, and coal for fuel. The need for coal arose 

 through the disadvantage of having a large crew composed of 

 sailors who, never having tried it, were unwilling to live in snow- 

 houses and must have a large frame house or something of the sort 

 with a kitchen, a house so appointed that they could be fed and 

 lodged in the style they were used to. 



Upon the strong advice of both officers, I decided to put the ship 

 as near the beach as possible and to unload enough cargo to lighten 

 her a foot. We could then steam out in the ice in proper trim for 

 dealing with it and try to come back later to pick up what we 

 had unloaded. 



The unloading was rather easily done for the deck cargo con- 

 sisted largely of gasoline in 100-gallon metal drums. We just 



