62 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



long it hauled back to its old quarter, N.E. right in our teeth. 

 All day long we continued beating through comparatively open 

 water, and passed Wainwright Inlet at 4 P.M. The wind was 

 light, and we were not making great headway. The mirage 

 was very strong, showing the ice in most fantastic shapes, but 

 although it was interesting and even beautiful to look upon, it 

 spoiled our view ahead, and we could see no water, only ice 

 as far as the eye could reach, until we came near it, when we 

 always found that the refraction had shown up the white ice, 

 so that we could not see the water from a distance. 



About 6 P.M. we struck the pack ice and had to follow the 

 edge of it eastward. The pack was very formidable-looking, 

 there was no sign of water in it, and it was heavier and more 

 rugged than any ice we had seen before, either on Kaiser Franz 

 Joseph Land or on the east coast of Greenland. 



Close inland we found it a little more open, but we did not 

 dare to enter the pack, as it was getting dark, and we were all 

 tired out with the hard work of beating through the heavy ice. 

 We anchored at n P.M. at Point Belcher. Our prospects are 

 getting darker and darker, time is going fast, and with the wind, 

 current, and ice against us, we can scarcely hope to reach Point 

 Barrow near the date when we had expected to arrive. 



A very pleasant event, however, occurred on this day. One 

 of the dogs which we had bought on St. Lawrence Island gave 

 birth to six pups. Four of them were males, and those were 

 kept alive ; the remaining two were drowned. Although we 

 had fixed up a box for her, she gave birth to her pups on some 

 coal sacks which were lying on the deck. Mr. Leffingwell, 

 who was in his room at the time, heard the whimpering, and, 

 following it, found the puppies lying about in holes between the 

 sacks. We gathered them together and put them into the 

 box. The mother soon found that this was a far better place 

 than the coal sacks, and likewise made herself at home there. 

 We hope that the pups will do well, as the mother is a large, 

 strong animal. 



Wednesday, August 8. We broke anchor at 4 A.M. and 

 cruised up a narrow channel between ground ice and the shore. 

 It was hard work and very exciting. The channel was half a 

 mile wide on an average ; on one side we had a high, unbroken 

 barrier of ice, on the other the low coast. Going toward the 



