256 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



find the bottom ; the ice drifted so fast to the W.N.W. that the 

 line stood out at an angle of about 30. Mr. Leffingwell 

 returned with the good news that we could come across further 

 up the lane if we would hurry, and we again whipped the dogs 

 to make them move on, while we ourselves toiled hard at the 

 hauling straps. We crossed by jumping from one piece of ice 

 to another, and started afresh. For the first quarter of a mile 

 we made fairly good progress, but then we came to another 

 crack, about 20 feet wide, and from the top of a high pressure- 

 ridge we could see innumerable lanes and cracks to the east, 

 while the sky also looked dark and heavy in that direction. 

 We could not get round this network of lanes, which joined 

 further down the large one we had just passed, and after we had 

 walked along the lane and found that we could not even cross 

 that, we camped, wretched and disheartened, at n A.M. 



The temperature is very high, only 7 5' C. There is no hope 

 that the lanes may freeze over, and we cannot hope to make 

 progress unless we get a westerly wind to join the ice together 

 again, as it will take too long to raft our outfit over the 

 innumerable lanes. 



There are many things which speak in favour of giving up 

 the struggle to go further east and of returning to Cross Island. 

 First, it is evident that, however much we wish it, we cannot 

 make any progress over this kind of ice ; secondly, the season 

 is so far advanced that the snow is very soft and makes travel- 

 ling unnecessarily hard; thirdly, we shall cover the ground 

 from the eastward to Flaxman Island on our next year's sledge 

 trip. Moreover, we are drifting back faster than we can travel ; 

 and, last but not least, our sledges are wrecks, and we have to 

 patch and lash them every day, sometimes even several times a 

 day. Everything considered, we think it is best to return. 

 We have found the edge of the Continental Shelf, and would 

 probably not get any further even if we tried, and so we made 

 up our minds to go to Cross Island the very moment we could 

 get away from the island of ice on which we now are. 



"Kamalook's" strength is ebbing fast; he cannot fight any 

 longer, and is lying down all day, whimpering and groaning 

 with pain. We fed him on malted milk tablets to-day, which 

 seem to be good for beasts as well as for human beings. 



Made about a mile and a half. Lat. 71 13', long. 147 34' W. 



