THROUGH THE PRESSURE RIDGE 151 
begin with pickaxes to make a road across the 
rafters. While they were building the igloos I 
made a reconnaissance ahead for some distance, re¬ 
turning about dark. We had no thermometer, so 
that we could not tell the exact temperature, but 
from the condition of the coal oil, which was very 
thick and viscid, it must have been between forty- 
five and fifty-five below zero. It was excellent 
weather for sledging, fine, clear and calm, if the 
going had only been good. 
March 1, at daylight, I sent back Chafe and 
Mamen, with an empty sledge and ten dogs, to 
bring up all the oil, biscuit and alcohol that re¬ 
mained at the sixth camp. They returned with a 
well-laden sledge, late in the afternoon. I dis¬ 
covered during the day that Malloch and Maurer 
had frozen their feet, a thing which caused them a 
good deal of suffering and me a good deal of 
anxiety. Men with frozen feet are seriously handi¬ 
capped and make the progress of all difficult until 
they recover. Fortunately in the present instance 
the men made known their predicament soon 
enough to be relieved before dangerously frost¬ 
bitten. 
At daylight the next morning I sent McKinlay, 
Hadley and Chafe back over the trail again, to go 
clear through to Shipwreck Camp with an empty 
sledge and fourteen dogs. They were to bring 
