92 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



at all. Our adventurous spirit compels us to push on, to risk 

 everything to reach Minto Inlet, and so carry out our plans in 

 spite of the very adverse conditions. 



But common sense must rule, the voice of adventure is 

 hushed, and we all agree to take up winter quarters which we 

 can choose ourselves, and from which we can do some work. 

 Flaxman Island is good ; it is well situated as a base for work 

 over the ice, as well as for work on shore, and is furthermore 

 the home of natives who can help us considerably. Next year 

 we shall be able to go to Banks Land, and, in case the supplies 

 we have asked for should fail to come, we could send out the 

 vessel that autumn. 



So here goes for winter quarters at Flaxman Island ! 



Sunday, September 9, to Wednesday, 12. Every day but 

 the last has been spent in working eastward against a rather 

 strong east wind. We are working in the lagoon, as the 

 ice is lying so close to the sand-spits that we cannot beat 

 through it. It is slow and tiresome work; the lagoon is 

 narrow, and gets narrower and shoaler the further east we get. 

 It is so shoal that most of the time we have only a couple 

 of feet between our keel and the bottom. We have been 

 aground several times, but we are getting used to that, and 

 work the ship off easily enough. It has been calm all day, and 

 we have used the time to sound up a channel almost the 

 whole way to Flaxman Island. We can carry ten feet, so I 

 suppose we shall come in without any trouble ; our draught 

 is 8 feet 6 inches. Mr. Leffingwell and I went ashore to-day 

 and missed the ship in the dense fog. We came out to the 

 sand-spits, and had made up our minds that we would have to 

 camp out until the weather cleared, and we had already killed a 

 couple of ducks for our supper. Then we heard a shot, and, 

 following the sound, found our vessel .again, and spent the 

 night in a more pleasant manner than we had expected. We 

 have to anchor at 7 P.M. now ; the nights are rapidly getting 

 darker. 



Thursday, September 13. The barometer has been falling so 

 much that we are almost bound to get wind from somewhere, 

 but we are afraid that it will be too strong when it comes. 

 The weather has been most disagreeable all day ; not much 

 wind, but the fog has been so thick that we could not see a 



