48 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



again. Thuesen, who was night watchman at the time, reported 

 that the cook and Parker had tried to persuade him to go with 

 them, or at least to let them have one of the ship's boats. We 

 did not want to take unwilling men with us into the Arctic, but 

 we could not let them go unless we found others to take their 

 places. We were rather shorthanded as it was, and, knowing 

 that the two men wanted to go, we were sure to take good care 

 that they did not slip away. The affair came to a climax on 

 Sunday, July 22, when both men refused to work and insisted 

 on being paid off. Of course we could not do that, and I 

 went over to the U.S. R.C. Thetis, which had anchored up along- 

 side of us. The commander, Captain Hamlet, sent a lieutenant 

 with a boat's crew on board to see what the trouble was. 

 Having investigated the case, he told me that they had no reason 

 to complain and that the quicker they went to work the better. 

 They still refused, and we gave them two hours to reflect 

 whether they would work or go on board the Thetis under 

 arrest for mutiny. When the two hours had passed the men 

 were called aft, and they told me that they had decided to go to 

 work on condition that they were allowed to leave as soon as 

 we found others to take their places. This was agreed to, and 

 the men went back to work. The cook did not matter so much 

 he was one of those who always gave trouble but we were sorry 

 for Parker ; he was a good sailor, and would have made a good 

 man on any expedition if he had not come under the influence 

 of the cook. 



The provisions from Battle Creek had come, but they were 

 in an awful state. The boxes were broken open and lots of 

 things were missing, while others were wet and spoiled ; worst 

 of all, there was a freight bill of $295. 



We felt rather bitter at that time against the people of Battle 

 Creek, as they had known we were to sail at a certain date and 

 the order was filed in ample time. Their tardiness in sending 

 the ordered goods cost us dear, with the increased freight and 

 with the not inconsiderable loss and damage to the food. 



At Port Clarence Mr. Edwards was discharged and sent 

 home with a sailing vessel. His malaria was getting worse, 

 and he would probably have died if we had kept him 

 with us. 



Storkersen was promoted to mate, and we had great hopes 



