THE FROZEN NORTH. 133 



clothing and a blanket for each man, were stored 

 in the boats, which were to be dragged over the 

 ice. It was hoped that enough open water might 

 be found under the ground ice to float the boats 

 southward till the two ships, supposed to be 

 outside the ice pack, could be found. The men 

 carried the baggage ahead for half a mile, then 

 leaving it, returned to drag the boats forward. 

 The exceedingly rough ice was in many places 

 brittle, and some of the men fell through it, thus 

 becoming drenched, and suffering horribly with 

 cold. The company lay down at night worn, 

 spent, famished with cold, only four miles from 

 its starting point. 



The next morning a blinding northeast snow- 

 storm was raging, and a number of the wayfarers, 

 sick, lame, and discouraged, turned back to 

 the ships. 



On September 6th, the intrepid wanderers 

 reached open water, in which they floated their 

 boats towards the land. On the 9th they sighted 

 the Rainbow and Three Brothers at Point 

 Barrows, and reached them before night. These 

 vessels were in the vise-like clutches of the ice, 

 and could not move. After a consultation 

 between their crews and the newcomers, it was 

 decided that the whole company should start 



