NORTHWEST PASSAGE — ROBINSON 227 



camp sites in the area. In early January Constable Chartrand pa- 

 trolled to King William Island to prepare a fish cache for the long 

 spring census trip, and also to bring back additional winter clothing 

 made by the natives for the detachment. Toward the end of February, 

 Sergeant Larsen and Constable Hunt, having picked up a native guide, 

 left their winter headquarters on the St. Roch for an epic patrol which 

 was to cover 1,140 miles and extend over a period of 71 days. They 

 traveled north to Fort Koss and beyond to Creswell Bay, then south- 

 ward along the east coast of Boothia Peninsula to the mission at Pelly 

 Bay. After spending Easter there, they traveled westward to Gjoa 

 Haven, King William Island, where both were laid up for 14 days with 

 influenza. This illness curtailed the patrol, and they returned to the 

 St. Roch on May 6. 



The winter weather at Pasley Bay was quite different from any other 

 that Sergeant Larsen had known previously in the Arctic. Continued 

 fog and snowfall with variable winds made visibility poor, while 

 sudden changes in temperature from 30 below zero to zero and back 

 again within a short time made it difficult to become acclimated. As 

 summer approached it became apparent that the ice was not going to 

 break up early in this region. It was still packed solidly outside the 

 inlet, and pressure ridges, 50 to 100 feet high along the coast north of 

 Pasley Bay, showed the results of enormous ice forces. Since the ice 

 was to remain that year there was virtually no navigation season for 

 the west side of Boothia Peninsula during the years 1941-42. 



The St. Roch and police crew spent 11 months at Pasley Bay. On 

 August 4, fresh water draining into the harbor loosened the ice and 

 allowed them to move out of the inlet. On the shore behind they left 

 a new cairn and grave. On February 13, Constable Chartrand had 

 had a sudden heart attack and died almost immediately; his death 

 was the only tragedy of the trip. 



Captain Larsen navigated shoreward of the main pack ice and made 

 15 miles northward along the coast before being stopped by a solid 

 mass of floes. He then put the vessel into a small lead extending 

 westward to await a break-up. The opening closed, however, and the 

 schooner was caught and held there helpless for 20 days. On several 

 occasions, while they were beset, severe pressure lifted the boat high in 

 the ice and threatened to turn her over. At these times charges of 

 black powder were set off near the vessel to relieve the pressure, while 

 the police crew worked with ice chisels to keep free the propeller and 

 rudder. An easterly wind carried the schooner farther and farther 

 away from the coast. 



On August 24 a strong northerly gale split the ice and opened a long 

 lead south from one of the rocky Tasmania Islands. It took two 

 anxious days for the St. Roch to break through the short distance to 



