FIELD WORK OF THE PEAEY ARCTIC CLUB, 1898-1902. 433 



everything" to Cape Lawrence on the north side of Rawling-s Bay, then 

 go rapidl}' on to Fort Conger with light sledges, determine the condi- 

 tion of the supplies left there, that 1 might know what I could depend 

 upon, and thus save transportation of unnecessar}- articles, then return 

 to the ship. 



In the Januar}" moon I would start with my entire party; move my 

 supplies from Cape Lawrence to Fort Conger; remain there till the 

 February moon, the light of which would merge into the beginning of 

 the returning daylight; then sledge the supplies for the polar journe}' 

 to Cape Hecla, and be in readiness to start from there, with rested and 

 well-fed dogs, by the middle of March. In pursuance of this plan, 

 the two weeks intervening between the departure of the November 

 moon and the a])pearance of the December one were busily occupied 

 in repairing and strengthening sledges, and making and overhauling 

 clothing and equipment, to enable us to meet this long and arduous 

 journey in the very midnight of the "great night.'" During this 

 interval the temperature much of the time was at —50° F. and below. 



December W. — In the first light of the returning moon I left the 

 Windivard with my doctor, Henson, 4 Eskimos, and 30 dogs, all that 

 were left of the sixty odd of four months previous. Thick weathei", 

 strong winds rushing out of Kennedy Channel, heavy snow, and an 

 abominable ice foot in Rawlings Bay delayed me, and it was not until 

 the 28th that I had all my supplies assembled at Cape Lawrence, on 

 the north side of Rawlings Bay. 



Cape Lawrence presented the advantage of two possible routes by 

 which these latter supplies could be reached from Conger, one through 

 Kennedy Channel, which I was about to follow, and the other via 

 Archer Fjord and overland. In spite of the delays, I felt on the whole 

 well satisfied with the work up to the end of the year. I had all m}' 

 supplies halfway to Fort Conger, and had comfortable snow igloos 

 erected at Cape Hawkes, (.ape Louis Napoleon, Cape Fraser, Cape 

 Norton Shaw, Cape Wilkes, and Cape Lawrence. 



December 29. — I started from Cape Lawrence with light sledges for 

 Fort Conger, hoping to make the distance in five days. The first 

 march from Cape Lawrence the ice foot was fairly good, though an 

 inch or two of efilorescence made the sledges drag as if on sand. The 

 ice foot grew steadily worse as we advanced, until after rounding Cape 

 Defosse, it was almost impassable even for light sledges. The light of 

 the moon lasted only for a few hours out of the twenty-four, and at 

 its best was not sufiicient to permit us to select a route on the sea ice. 



Just south of Cape Defosse we ate the last of our biscuit, just north 

 of it the last of our beans. On the next march a biting wind swept 

 down the channel and numbed the Eskimo, who had spent the previ- 

 ous winter in the States, to sueh an extent tliat to sa\e him we were 



