* ' MARION ' ' EXPEDITIOX TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 29 



Island to the southward. The sunny berg-dotted waters of the 

 Vaigat, just north of the vilhige, made a strange and picturesque 

 background for the dance on the darkening shore. (See fig. 23.) 



At 9.15 p. m. the ship was got underway and headed southeastward. 

 During the night the shoals off Mudder Bay w^ere passed, and at 

 7.20 on August 12 the Marion came to anchor at Godhavn for the last 

 time. A busy day ensued, which included taking aboard 1,-100 gallons 

 of fuel oil. 650 gallons of water, and saying good-by to new-made 

 friends. The officers went to a dinner at the Danish Arctic station, 

 where they were royally entertained by the Porsild family. After 

 an hour spent in examining the museum and library at the station, 

 the officers and their hosts went through pouring rain to a sogg}^ 

 field where a soccer game was held. The Marion^s crew played 

 against the combined forces of the Danes and natives, proving no 

 match for them. The local forces won easily over their less experi- 

 enced competitors by the tremendous score of 26 goals to none. 



The evening was rainy and foggy, but the mountains behind the 

 harbor broke the force oi the wind at the anchorage, so a quiet night 

 was spent on the ship while waiting for the storm raging offshore 

 to moderate. Finally, at 12.J:5 p. m. on August 13, 1928. the last fare- 

 wells were said, the anchor was hove up, and the Marion and her 

 complement departed from Godhavn, carrying away many fine 

 gifts from the hospitable inhabitants of North Greenland. Still 

 more valuable and more imperishable than the material gifts which 

 we took with us were the vivid recollections of the kindness and 

 helpfulness of the people of the Arctic wonderland surrounding 

 Disko Bay. 



We were much interested in a Danish oceanographic expedition 

 under Commander Riis-Cartensen, of the Royal Danisii Navy, 

 which w^as cruising during the summer of 1928 in the waters of 

 Baffin Bay. His ship was north at Etah, Greenland, while we were 

 around Disko Bay, so we failed to meet him personally. Greetings 

 were exchanged by radio, however, and a package containing sketches 

 of our track and a description of our work was left for Commander 

 Riis-Cartensen at the Danish Arctic station just before we departed. 



Tlie Manon ran westward and northwestward until al)out 15 miles 

 from Godhavn. Then an oceanographic station was taken close to 

 the land, the first of a row^ of stations that we hoped to take to the 

 southwestward for 220 miles to Cape Dier, Baffin Island. A fresh 

 southeast breeze was still blowing and it was cloudy. The next day 

 the weather was worse — fog, then rain, and then more fog. The 

 southeast breeze increased to gale force, but the Marion kept on tak- 

 ing her stations and other observations as best she could. Between 

 4 p. m. and 8 p. m. the gale moderated suddenly to a flat calm, but 

 the dense fog still jjersisted. Several bergs and growlers were sighted 

 during the day, becoming more and more numerous along the course 

 as the evening advanced. 



At 12.20 a. m. on August 15 the Marion was stojjped on the east- 

 ern edge of pack ice. The night was much darker than the nights 

 had been some 100 miles fartlier north at Godhavn, and it was very 

 foggy, but the pans of ice close aboard were plainly visible, though 

 they were at first thought to be icebergs and growlers instead of pack 

 ice. At 5 a. m. the fog began to dissipate, permitting a fair view to 



