BARTLETT'S FARTHEST 
sweetness, but with freezing cold instead; you 
can not make snowballs of it, for it is too 
thoroughly congealed, and when it is packed 
by the wind it is almost as solid as ice. It is 
from the packed snow that the blocks used to 
form the igloo-walls are cut. 
At the end of four hours, we came to the 
igloo where the Captain and his boys were 
sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion. In 
order not to interrupt the Captain's rest, we 
built another igloo and unloaded his sledge, 
and distributed the greater part of the load 
among the sledges of the party. The Cap- 
tain, on awakening, told us that the journey 
we had completed on that day had been made 
by him under the most trying conditions, and 
that it had taken him fourteen hours to do it. 
We were able to make better time because we 
had his trail to follow, and, therefore, the ne- 
cessity of finding the easiest way was avoided. 
That was the object of the scout or pioneer 
party and Captain Bartlett had done prac- 
tically all of it up to the time he turned back 
at 87° 48' north. 
March 29: You have undoubtedly taken 
into consideration the pangs of hunger and 
118 
