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



forced bodily out of the water and up onto the rocks. At Cape John 

 Barrow a large berg had been forced up on the solid rock of the cape, 

 until one huge fragment la}' fully 100 feet above the high-tide level. 



Returning from my reconnoissance, I camped again at Camp Fraser, 

 building the first of my snow igloos, which I intended should be con- 

 structed at convenient intervals the entire distance to Fort Conger. 

 The next three days were occupied in bringing the supplies at Cape 

 Louis Napoleon up to Cape Fraser, and on the -ith of November I 

 returned to the ship. The time until the return of the next moon was 

 fully occupied in making and repairing sledges, bringing in beef from 

 the cache on Bache Peninsula, and transporting supplies and dog food 

 to Cape Hawkes, beyond the heavy going of Allman Bay. During 

 much of this time the temperature was in the — 40°'s F. 



Noveniher 21. — Henson and 3 Eskimos left with loads, and on the 

 22d 1 followed with a party of 3 to begin the work of the Novem])er 

 moon. This work ended just after midnight of December 4, when the 

 last sledges came in. It left 3,300 pounds of supplies and a quantitv 

 of dog food at Cape Wilkes on the north side of Richardson Bay. 

 These supplies would have been left at Cape Lawrence had it not been 

 for the desertion and turning back of one of my men, discouraged with 

 the hard work, while crossing Richardson Ba}^ Knowing it to be 

 essential to prevent any recurrence of the kind, I pushed on to Cape 

 Wilkes, camped, and turned in after a twenty-tive-hour day, slept three 

 liours, then started with empty sledge, 8 picked dogs, and an Eskimo 

 driver, to overtake my man. He was found at Cape Louis Napoleon, 

 and after receiving a lesson was taken along with me to the ship. 



My party was left with instructions to bring up supplies which the 

 wrecking of sledges had obliged me to cache at various places, assemble 

 all at Cape Wilkes, and then, if I did not return, reconnoiter the ice 

 foot to Rawlings Bay and return to the ship. The distance from Cape 

 AVilkes to the Wind/mrd was 60 nautical miles in a straight line (as 

 traveled b}" me along the ice foot and across the bays, not less than 90 

 statute miles), and was covered in twenty-three hours and twenty min- 

 utes, or twenty-one hours and thirty minutes actual traveling time. 

 Temperature during the run, — 50 ' F. Ever}- sledge was more or less 

 smashed in this two weeks' campaign, and at Cape John Barrow 

 sledges and loads had to be carried on our l)acks over the ice jams. 

 The mean daily minimum temperature for the thirteen days was —41.2° 

 F. , the lowest, —50° F., which occurred on four successive days. The 

 experience gained on this trip led me to believe that the conditions of 

 travel from Cape Wilkes noi'thward, as far at least as Cape Defosse, 

 would not differ materialh^ from those already encountered and enabled 

 me to la}" my plans with somewhat greater detail. With the light of 

 the December moon I would proceed to Cape Wilkes with such loads 

 as would enable me to travel steadily without double banking, advance 



