MUSK-OXEN 
spring tides, with a strong southerly wind, had 
set in so very much earher, three years before, 
that on July 4, 1906, the Roosevelt had been 
entirely free of ice, with clear, open water for 
quite a distance to the south; but this year the 
ship was still completely packed in the ice, and 
furthermore she was listed at the same angle 
as during the winter. 
On July 5, I was detailed to help Gushue 
repair the more or less damaged whale-boats. 
The heavy and sohdly packed snow of the 
winter had stove them in. On July 6, the an- 
niversary of our departure from New York a 
year before, the greater part of the day was 
spent in pumping water from the top of a 
heavy floeberg into the ship's boilers. This 
work was not completed until the morning of 
the 7th, when the fires were started. Due to 
the cold, the process of getting up steam was 
slow work. The ice had been breaking up 
daily, new leads were noticed, and on this day, 
July 7, a new lead opened at a distance of fifty 
yards from the ship, and open water stretched 
as far south as the eye could see. All hands 
were put to work reloading the supplies that 
had been placed on shore the fall previous, for 
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