OUT OF THE ICE 151 



seven feet, with the pack a mile seaward of us. We 

 passed three igloos on a high beach at the mouth of a 

 river. 



But this good going ended, for we came to the mouth 

 of the Amguyema River, flanked by lagoons in the 

 tundra, and against the easterly point formed by silt 

 from the stream the southeast wind had jammed the ice 

 even up to the shore. The water was so shallow that a 

 line of small separate chunks of ice had grounded, and we 

 bumped the bottom when we tried to cross this bar. 

 After successfully getting over it at another place the 

 Captain could find no means of making further headw^ay, 

 and we decided to tie up for the night. Larsson was for 

 anchoring — a very unusual thing to do in the ice — and 

 some one asked the mate, as he was putting on his parka, 

 instead of turning in, 



''Isn't it your watch off?" 



He rephed, ''Yes, but I'm going to see we get into a 

 good place, so I can sleep." 



There was much joviality at supper in discussing the 

 advantages of spending the winter here, though some 

 held out for a tramp of several hundred miles along the 

 beach to East Cape and others for attempting the 

 voyage in om* small boats. Chukchi Frank said it 

 was a month's journey by sledge. 



Ed Born showed, at the next breakfast, the only 

 anxiety he had so far manifested on the trip. 



"You can either take the launch and try to find a 

 lead between the point and the shore, or you can go 

 back and pick a way through the pack," he said; "you 

 cannot lie here." 



This was his ultimatum as owner of the vessel and the 

 first time he had delivered a command. The situation 



