226 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1945 



the night the St. Roch, with both anchors out, was continually battered 

 and pushed by grinding ice blocks, and the little company on board 

 did not know whether they were still near the islet or were caught in 

 the ice. The morning of September 2, however, found them still there 

 and undamaged, and when a south wind began pushing the ice north- 

 ward they moved along with it. 



On September 3, improved weather allowed the St. Roch to proceed 

 northward between the coast and the ice. The low land was now 

 snow-covered, and when visibility became poor the white shore could 

 not be distinguished from the grounded ice. During the day the wind 

 changed to the west, gradually moving the ice closer to the coast. 

 It became apparent that there was a definite danger of being caught 

 and crushed. Fortune was with the valiant ship, however, for Pasley 

 Bay, a long inlet, erroneously shown on the charts as a broad bay, 

 appeared ahead, and the St. Roch was forced into it. 



The next morning its crew made a trip to a nearby hill to look 

 westward over the ice of Franklin Strait and M'Clintock Channel. 

 It was jammed against the coast as far as could be seen, and extended 

 in a jumbled mass to the horizon. In the afternoon large floes began 

 to shove into the inlet, and the St. Roch had to move farther in. Soon 

 the ship was completely surrounded by heavy ice and could no longer 

 maneuver. On the morning of September 6 the ice carried the vessel 

 against a shoal in iy 2 fathoms, turned the schooner twice, listed it to 

 alternate sides, and then pushed it completely over the shoal, dragging 

 two anchors and 90 fathoms of chain. 



Heavy snowfall and variable winds continued, and the St. Roch 

 remained locked in the ice until September 9, when deep water was 

 found in an opening close to the shore. On September 11 the ice 

 movement ceased. New ice soon formed rapidly in the open places, 

 and the whole inlet froze over solidly. As it was now impossible to 

 escape, the ice was cut away from the ship, which was anchored far- 

 ther off -shore so as not to be grounded in the spring. Preparations 

 were then made to spend the winter in Pasley Bay, close to the North 

 Magnetic Pole on Boothia Peninsula, and the news was radioed out- 

 side. The schooner had traveled 1,660 miles during the summer. 

 The season was still early by normal standards, and Bellot Strait and 

 the Northwest Passage were only 100 miles away, but the fickle Arctic 

 had again frowned on the St. Roch. 



The stranded R. C. M. policemen had an important task to perform 

 during the winter of 1941-42. In the taking of the census of the 

 Canadian Arctic areas, their job was to meet as many as possible of 

 the Canadian Eskimo in this little-visited region. In order to do this 

 Larsen traveled by dog team to the trading post at Fort Ross in early 

 December and obtained information as to the location of the native 



