THE VOYAGE BEGINS 
15 
becoming dirtier. Finally in the afternoon we 
could see the ice plainly on our port bow. We had 
seen the “ice-blink” for some time before; now the 
ice itself hove in sight about two miles away, with 
some larger pieces scattered here and there among 
the floes. I learned afterwards that up to a few 
days before we should have had clear water all the 
way to Point Barrow. The ice curved in towards 
the shore, so that we had to change our course; we 
had been steaming parallel with the land but now 
we had to head towards shore or else run the danger 
of being caught in the ice. About midnight our 
progress was still further barred and we had to 
turn around and steam back to windward for a 
mile or so to keep in the open water, for the strong 
north wind was driving the ice towards the land. 
The next day the wind changed and blew off the 
land; this started the ice off shore and we were able 
to move eastward, but soon the offshore breeze died 
down and we had to turn back again. Finally in 
the afternoon we made another attempt, with some 
success; we were gradually nearing Point Barrow. 
