252 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



and straddled over the sledge as near as possible to the middle. 

 I told Mr. Leffingwell to push off. When our load was clear 

 of the ice I had to act as movable weight according to Mr. 

 Leffingwell's instructions, but at last the raft was sufficiently 

 well balanced to make the experiment comparatively safe. 

 Then I started, hauling in the line very carefully. The risk was 

 great, as we had only about an inch freeboard aft, and I dared 

 not look round for fear of shifting my position, which would mean 

 that the raft would fill with water, and the heavy sledge, full of 

 provisions, would sink like a stone and leave us absolutely desti- 

 tute far from home. They were not pleasant thoughts which 

 insisted on being foremost in my mind, but all the while I care- 

 fully hauled in on the line balancing off the float according to 

 instructions shouted from shore. I crossed safely, but dared 

 not crawl along the sledge, and Storkersen, who was a strong 

 man, pulled the sledge, with me on top of it, on to the ice. Our 

 raft had proved a success, and we would not be afraid of using 

 it in the future. Then back once more to fetch Mr. Leffingwell, 

 a few small things which had been left, and poor " Kamalook." 

 We dared not take him into the raft for fear of his biting us, so 

 we tied a string round his neck and fastened it to the stern of 

 the raft. I gave a pull at the line, the raft shot out from shore, 

 and " Kamalook" was struggling in the water. 



The raft is really a splendid invention, but we cannot use it 

 when there is thin ice or when there is any motion in the water ; 

 in the first case the sharp ice would cut the canvas, and in the 

 second the raft would swamp and sink. 



To get the sledges loaded again, the dogs hitched, and be off 

 was only a matter of a few minutes. 



Then the going was magnificent ; fine, level ice, rather hard 

 snow, the sky high and blue, and the weather almost as warm 

 as summer, while the temperature was as high as o C. at i P.M. 

 But on we went, whooping with joy, the dogs pulling hard, and 

 ourselves making mile after mile over the dazzling white surface. 

 It was splendid ; we felt happy and contented, full of the joy of 

 life. But travelling over the pack is treacherous, and without 

 any warning whatever we came to a fairly wide lane. At its 

 narrowest place it was about 7 feet wide, but even that was 

 too wide to jerk the sledges across, and as there was no small 

 ice in the lane with which to make a bridge, we had to chop 



