MUSK-OXEN 
it was easy to see that the time for departure 
was at hand. 
With the boilers in order, an attempt was 
made to revolve the shaft, but the propeller 
was too securely frozen in the ice to move, and 
so Captain Bartlett got out the dynamite and 
succeeded in freeing the bronze blades. 
From the 10th of July to the 13th, a fierce 
storm raged, clouds of freeing spray broke 
over the ship, incasing her in a coat of icy mail, 
and the tempest forced all of the ice out of the 
lower end of the channel and beyond as far as 
the eye could see, but the Roosevelt still re- 
mained surrounded hy ice. 
The morning of the 15th, a smart breeze 
from the northeast was blowing, and proved of 
valuable assistance to us, for it caused the huge 
blocks of ice that were surrounding the ship to 
loosen their hold, and for the first time since 
October, 1908, the Roosevelt righted herself to 
an even keel. 
By this time all of our supplies had been 
loaded and stored, and from the crow's-nest a 
stretch of open water could be seen as far as 
Cape Rawson. From there to Cape Union 
the ice was packed solid. 
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