CHAPTER IV 
WE ARE FROZEN IN 
It was clear by this time that there would be no 
chance this year to reach new lands to the north 
by direct voyaging and that we should be lucky if 
we succeeded in winning our way through to Hers- 
chel Island before the ice closed in for the winter. 
By the afternoon of the eleventh we managed to get 
as far east as Lion Reef. Here we tied on to a 
grounded floe to hold our gain and take advantage 
of our next chance to go east. Between Lion 
Reef and the mainland a few miles away ran a 
current which set the ice moving smartly in all 
directions, but unfortunately we drew too much 
water to venture into those shallow lanes. 
I took the opportunity afforded by our pause to 
examine the stem of the ship and found that by con¬ 
tact with the ice two of the brass stem-plates were 
gone and several bolts loosened in those that re¬ 
mained. 
Whenever we were stationary in the ice, Mur¬ 
ray, the oceanographer, would use his dredge. He 
had been doing this in fact all along the coast, ever 
since we were off Blossom Shoals. At this time he 
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