Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/387

 364 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS small could not possibly drag all the way to the Pole and back (nine hundred miles) the necessary amount of food and liquid fuel for men and dogs. Second, divisions must succeed each other in the hard work of trail-breaking for the first two-thirds of the distance in order to save the strength of the main party for its final dash. Third, when the supplies of one sledge after another have been consumed, the drivers of these sledges and the dogs are superfluous mouths to be fed from the scant supply being dragged northward. Fourth, each division being a unit it can be withdrawn with- out affecting the main party ; and Fifth, at the very end, when the supporting parties have performed their important part of trail-breaking and carrying supplies, the main party, for the final dash, must be small and well selected, as a small party can travel much faster than a large one. One of the important features of this plan is that the suc- cession of returning parties keep the trail open for a rapid return of the main party. The second day out the first real obstacle was met. When three-quarters of the march was made a dark, ominous doud was observed on the northern horizon. This always means open water. Soon a lead appeared. There was nothing to do but camp. The necessary igloos were constructed and all went to rest. Very early the next morning the grinding of the ice indicated that the lead was crushing together and the party got away. On the fourth day out Peary met an Eskimo with a note from Captain Bartlett saying that the captain was in camp about a mile farther on, held by open water. Pushing on, Peary soon reached the Bartlett camp and saw the unwelcome sight — a great, white expanse of ice cut by a river of inky black water, throwing off dense clouds of vapor. They were now forty-five miles north of Cape Columbia. One, two, three, four, five days they waited and still this river * * Styx ' ' spread before them. The temperature had risen as high as minus 5"". Peary