THE WHITE WORLD 



The members of the expedition were detained for some 

 days in New York because the ship in which they were to 

 sail was belated, and arrived in port behind the scheduled 

 time. 



The Miranda was the name of this vessel, a name sug- 

 gestive of hidden reefs and tempests. She was a vessel 

 with a past, and that past was not entirely to her credit. 

 She was built for the Red Cross Line in 1884, and had 

 hardly been put into service between New York, Halifax 

 and St. John's, when she ran on the rocks off Point Judith. 

 Later, she struck on rocks in Hell Gate and sank, but was 

 raised at considerable cost. She soon afterwards collided 

 with an iron steamer, and later with a schooner, and it was 

 she who towed the famous Leary's raft from Nova Scotia 

 in 1887. The raft pulled the fastenings out of the Miranda, 

 went to pieces, and became a serious disturber of traffic. 

 The ship lost something of her good name and all her 

 passenger trade after these trifling accidents, and was 

 finally rented out as a freight steamer. She seemed indeed 

 to take more kindly to freight than lo passengers, for she 

 behaved herself fairly well until she took us all on board; 

 she had been merely restraining her passion for collisions, 

 and holding in abeyance her singular penchant for rocks, 

 until a fitting opportunity presented itself for a full display 

 of her powers. 



The expedition finally started from Pier 6, North River, 

 on the afternoon of July 7. Quite a large concourse of 

 people had collected on the pier to see the Arctic argonauts 

 start on their fateful voyage, and we all tried to look like 

 the Arctic heroes we had read about, and cast glances as 

 cold and as haughty as possible upon the spectators. 



Many enthusiastic friends had crowded upon the ship, 

 and when the jangling signal had been given for all who 

 were not going to brave the dangers of the north to go 

 on shore, the pause that came before the actual start gave 

 an opportunity to a stout man on the wharf to let off a 

 few mild jokes at our expense. He persisted in looking 

 upon the expedition from a humorous standpoint, and was 

 aided and abetted in his point of view by a Fourth of July 

 jag which had not yet entirely deserted him. 



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