WE DRIFT AWAY FROM THE LAND 51 
from Point Barrow and drifting fast, too fast, in 
fact, to use the dredge. The depth of the water had 
by now increased to almost a hundred fathoms. 
The afternoon of the ninth Mamen and 1 were 
out on our ski, when there came a sudden crack in 
the ice between us and the ship. Fortunately I 
was on the watch for just such an event and as 
soon as I saw the black streak of the open water on 
the white surface of the ice about a hundred yards 
away from the high rafter which formed our ski- 
jump, we started for the lead at top speed. The 
crack was about ten feet wide at first; the wind was 
blowing, the snow was falling fast and night was 
closing in. We had a dog with us and she ran along 
ahead of us to the lead. The edges of the ice at 
one point were only about three feet apart and 
after a wait of five or ten minutes we managed to 
bridge the gap and get across just in time, but the 
dog got on another section of ice which broke away 
and floated off with her. 
When I got back to the ship I threw off my 
heavy ski shoes and went up into the crow’s nest. 
It was stormy and I could not see very far. The 
crack in the ice was about half a mile away and, 
as I could see, was closing up. When it closed I 
feared we should be in for trouble, for the ice was 
three or four feet thick, and if it should break up 
all the way down to the ship and get us mixed up 
