LOST ON THE ICE-CAP 



to snow hard, and as it was impossible for me to see my 

 tracks, I feared that I might be lost. Night came on 

 rapidly, and I walked for a long time in the direction in 

 which I thought the tent to be, at last realizing that I was 

 really lost, and the more I wandered about in search of 

 the tent, the farther away from it I might be going. 



I saw that it would be impossible for me to reach the 

 tent that night. I made up my mind that the best thing 

 for me to do was to remain where I was until morning, 

 and I began to experiment on what I could do to keep 

 my feet from freezing, for I knew that even though the 

 temperature was between forty and fifty degrees below 

 zero, my clothing was warm enough with the exception of 

 my moccasins, which were moist with the perspiration of 

 the long day's tramp. I took my big fur mittens and 

 tucked them on my toes, and pulling my hands through the 

 sleeves of my fur coat, Eskimo fashion, folded my arms 

 across my breast, and with the empty sleeve across my 

 face to protect it from the driving storm, lay down in the 

 snow, but not to sleep. It took me but a short time to 

 realize that sleeping meant freezing, and soon I arose, 

 having decided that the only way to pass the night alive 

 was by keeping in motion. 



I had often read of the experiences of travelers lost in 

 snow storms, and supposed that, like them, if I kept in 

 motion I would travel in a circle, rinding myself in the 

 same vicinity in the morning. I acted in accordance with 

 this plan, and all through the long dark night plodded on, 

 not daring to stop to rest for fear of freezing, for I was 

 chilled through with the biting wind and exhausted by the 

 ever-drifting snow blown in my face, no matter in which 

 direction I turned. 



After a most tedious night, and just as the morning 

 gray began to show in the south, suddenly and without 

 warning the surface gave way beneath my feet, and I felt 

 myself falling. Involuntarily I threw myself backward, 

 and found myself hanging by the middle of my back with 

 my feet dangling in space. The ominous sound of frozen 

 pieces of snow and ice, rattling down into the depths be- 

 low, warned me that I was hanging on the edge of one of 

 those dangerous crevasses. Making a supreme effort, I 



i55 



