66 FARTHEST NORTH 



pressure would be severest. In the after-hold these 

 beams had to be raised a little to give room for the 

 engine. The upper deck aft, therefore, was somewhat 

 higher than the main deck, and the ship had a poop or 

 half-deck, under which were the cabins for all the 

 members of the expedition, and also the cooking-galley. 

 Strong iron riders were worked in for the whole lenofth 

 of the ship in the spaces between the beams, extending 

 in one length from the clamp under the upper deck 

 nearly to the keelson. The keelson was in two tiers 

 and about 31 inches (So cm.) high, save in the engine- 

 room, where the height of the room only allows one tier. 

 The keel consists of two heavy American elm logs 14 

 inches square ; but, as has been mentioned, so built in 

 that only 3 inches protrude below the outer planking. 

 The sides of the hull are rounded downward to the 

 keel, so that a transverse section at the midship frame 

 reminds one forcibly of half a cocoanut cut in two. The 

 higher the ship is lifted out of the water, the heavier 

 does she, of course, become, and the greater her press- 

 ure on the ice, but for the above reason the easier also 

 does it become for the ice to lift. To obviate much 

 heeling, in case the hull should be lifted very high, the 

 bottom was made flat, and this proved to be an excellent 

 idea. I endeavored to determine experimentally the 

 friction of ice against wood, and taking into account the 

 strength of the ship, and the angle of her sides with the 

 surface of the water, I came to the conclusion that her 



