126 
third sled was of the heavy Nome freight- 
ing style and capable of withstanding 
the hardest usage. The dogs had been 
gathered from points between Fort 
Macpherson and Nome, and were in 
very good condition. Our tents were 
light in weight and both water and 
wind proof. 
It usually took us an hour to pitch 
camp, get dinner over and feed the dogs, 
after which we would immediately roll 
into our sleeping bags. Each man, be- 
fore coming into the tent, was expected 
to brush every particle of snow from his 
clothing. This invariable rule of Stef- 
Ansson’s prevented our sleeping gear 
from getting damp and insured the com- 
fort of every man who obeyed it. Wil- 
kins and I had been chosen to do the 
cooking, but when he had been left 
ashore, both Anderson and Stefansson 
took turns with me. It was our custom 
to have breakfast at six thirty in the 
morning and, as soon as the meal was 
finished, everyone except the cook would 
begin breaking camp, loading the sleds, 
harnessing the dogs and preparing for 
the start. 
Stefansson would then take the lead, 
carrying a small ice-pick with which to 
test the ice and knock off sharp corners 
in our path, and we would continue in 
single file until either open water or a 
pressure ridge would bring us to a halt. 
The ice on which we traveled was always 
in motion, so that on some days our 
actual progress would be slight, even 
though we had traveled many miles. 
This was rather discouraging, but no 
one ever thought of turning back. 
Our drift proved to be to the southeast. 
Storkersen took observations daily and 
Johansen took soundings at every oppor- 
tunity. On April 3, Storkersen’s ob- 
servation was as follows: 140° 50’ 22” 
W. longitude, 70° 13’ 11” N. latitude; 
while his observation on the last day at 
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
“Camp Separation’’, April 7, gave our 
position as 140° 30’ 7” W. longitude, 
70° 20’ 4’ N. latitude (about sixty-five 
nautical miles from shore). We had 
actually lost ground in those four days! 
Johansen’s soundings, which had been 
heretofore from 17 to 30 fathoms, went 
abruptly from 34 fathoms to 70, 149 
and 180, which proved that we were on 
the edge of the Continental Shelf. 
Here Stefansson decided to send Craw- 
ford, Johansen and myself back to shore 
with two dog teams and the two worn- 
out sleds. He took with him Storkersen 
and Anderson, two of the hardiest and 
most experienced men in that country, 
the six best dogs, the best sled and a 
load of over nine hundred pounds. 
This included two rifles and four hun- 
dred rounds of ammunition. He told 
us at parting that he would continue 
northward for fifteen days before turning 
back. He also left orders for one of the 
ships to be taken to Banks Land, in case 
the winds and current might carry the 
ice on which he was traveling near 
enough to the island to warrant him 
making a dash for it. Since then the 
party has not been seen, although the 
“Polar Bear” and “ Belvedere” searched 
the west and southwest coasts of Banks 
Land in summer. 
Our journey back to shore was rather 
uneventful. There were a few tense 
moments, when on one occasion, three 
polar bears came up to our tent. At 
another time the ice on which we were 
camped broke up into small pieces, 
leaving our tent within eight feet of the 
edge on one side and about twelve on the 
other. Three days after we separated 
from Stefansson we were halted tempo- 
rarily by coming to a lead so wide that 
the ice field on the opposite side could 
not be seen. A southwest blizzard how- 
ever, closed the lead and we crossed 
while the pressure ridge was forming. 
