168 THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE KARLUK 
third. We were all busy, for we were getting a 
party ready to go back over the trail to Shipwreck 
Camp to pick up supplies. Drying out clothing, 
too, takes time and so does the constant mending of 
clothes and harness which went forward vigorously. 
The canvas, in which we had sewed up our pemmi- 
can tins before starting on the march, now proved 
its usefulness by furnishing us with the material 
necessary for making repairs in dog harness. Ma- 
men dislocated his knee again, poor fellow, and I 
had a job getting it back in place; it was extremely 
painful for him. 
On March 16 a howling northwest gale sprang 
up in the early morning, continuing all day long, 
with blinding snowdrift. On account of the storm, 
the party for Shipwreck Camp was unable to leave. 
The next morning, however, the wind had died 
down to a gentle breeze and at eight a. m. the men 
got away. We parted for journeys in opposite 
directions, for I planned to leave on the following 
day for Siberia and would have gone on the seven¬ 
teenth only that I wanted to see the others safely 
off. Munro, Breddy and Williams, with sixteen 
dogs and one sledge, were the ones chosen for the 
work. They were to go out over the trail to Ship¬ 
wreck Camp and sledge supplies in two trips across 
the big pressure ridge in to the still ice about 
twenty-five miles from land and thence to the shore 
