FIELD WORK OF THE PEARY ARCTIC CLUB, 1898-1902. 429 



many weak places, and fell back on the ice foot. The night of the 

 !29th the temperatui'e fell to 13' F., and on the 31st the new ice was 

 4i inches thick. On this day 1 went to Cape Hawkes and climbed to 

 its summit, whence 1 could see lakes out in Kane Basin, but between 

 them and the Wlmhcard the ice was closely packed — a discouraging 

 outlook. Only a strong and continued westerly wind would give me 

 any chance. The uncertainty^ of these two weeks was very annojdng 

 to me. Had I been sure that we could not get away from here I could 

 have been making an inland trip. As it was I could not leave the 

 ship for fear an opportunity to advance would occur in my absence. 



Septc'inher 2. — I started on a sledge trip up Princess Marie Bay. 

 At Cape Harrison the strong tidal current kept the ice broken, so I 

 could not round it, and the ice foot was impracticable for sledges. I 

 went on foot to the entrance of Copes Bay, surve3nng the shore to 

 that point, then returned to the ship after four daj's' absence. During 

 this trip I obtained the English record from the cairn on the summit 

 of Norman Lockyer Island, deposited there twent3^-two years ago. 

 This record was as fresh as when left. 



September 6. — 1 left the ship to reconnoiter Dobbin Bay, the head 

 of which is uncharted, returning three days later. During this trip 

 the tirst real snowstorm of the season occurred, 5i inches falling. 



September 12. — One-third of my provisions, an ample 3"ear's suppl}- 

 for the entire party, was landed at Cape DT^rville, my Eskimos sledg- 

 ing loads of 700 to 1,000 pounds over the young ice. The night of 

 the 13th the temperature dropped to — 10- F., and all hope of farther 

 advance was at an end. 



September 15. — The boiler was V)lown oti' and preparations for win- 

 ter commenced. 



On the 17th I broached my plans for the winter campaign as 

 follows : 



The autumn work was simple enough and outlined itself. It com- 

 prised two items— the securing of a winter's suppW of fresh meat for 

 the party and the survey of the Buchanan Strait-Hayes Sound-Princess 

 Marie Ba}' region. In spite of the peculiarh" desolate character of 

 that part of the Grinnell Land coast immediately about the Windivard., 

 and the apparent utter absence of animal life, I felt confident of 

 accomplishing the former. Various reconnoissances thus far on the 

 north shore of Princess Marie Ba}' had given me little encouragement, 

 but I knew that the Eskimos had killed one or two musk oxen in 

 3^ears past on Bache Island, and that region looked favorable for them. 

 As regards the surve3', a presentiment that I must get at that at the 

 earliest possible moment had already led me to make attempts to reach 

 the head of Princess Marie Bay. 



As to the spring campaign, I could not be reconciled to the idea of 

 losing a 3'ear from the main work of the expedition, and proposed to 



