io8 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



may be, it is nice of him to think of these things, and we all 

 appreciate his kindness. 



We are apparently not very lucky with our dogs. Mr. 

 Leffingwell has likewise lost one of his team since our arrival 

 on the island. The dog had bitten a man and was punished 

 with a whipping. For a couple of days afterwards the dog had 

 been ailing, and gradually he became worse and finally died. 

 The whipping was not very severe, so that can hardly have 

 been the cause of his death. 



Thuesen and Carrol have changed places in the galley, and 

 the new arrangement seems to work well. Carrol is quite an 

 expert as far as this work goes and takes a great interest in it. 

 A busy time followed my return. We were all writing letters 

 to our supporters and friends, explaining the situation and the 

 work we were going to do, with Flaxman Island as a base. 

 Mr. Leffingwell was working at his outfit, weighing out pro- 

 visions, getting his dog harness into shape, and fixing up a 

 sledge for the long trip. 



Douglamana was making furs for him, as the fur parkey which 

 we had brought from Norway proved much too heavy and large 

 for travelling. 



On October 9 the ice between the ship and the shore was so 

 solid that we could walk on it, if we took the necessary pre- 

 cautions ; but a gale which sprang up the same day broke up 

 the ice, and we spent a night full of anxiety listening to the 

 way our vessel was hammering on the bottom. The gale 

 increased, and the ship was working so hard that a bottle 

 standing on a shelf fell down. I was afraid that she would not 

 be able to stand the strain, but, to my great surprise, on the 

 following morning there was no more water than usual in the 

 hold. 



Mr. Leffingwell had finished his preparations, and was only 

 waiting until the ice became solid enough to start, but from 

 October 10 to 14 we were confined to the ship ; the slush ice 

 was too heavy to allow a boat to pass, and too soft for a man 

 to walk on. The general impression, however, was that we had 

 seen the last of open water for that year, as a very strong gale 

 blew on the i4th without breaking the ice. There were still 

 open patches of water out in the sound, but they were right in 

 the middle and were rapidly filling in. 



