i8 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



reader the details of our voyage, of our battle with the ice on 

 board the ship and on the sledge-trips, of our joys and sorrows, 

 the human beings with whom we came into such close contact, 

 and who are born, grow up, and die in this country, where the 

 unbroken day of the few summer months is followed by the 

 dark, bleak winter, with its snows and storms. I have every- 

 where tried to be impartial to my comrades, and even if things 

 do not always run as smoothly on an expedition as they ought 

 to do, I can only say that a better company than the one which 

 sailed northward on the Duchess of Bedford could hardly be 

 found. 



