Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/69

 to bring ahead the baggage that could not be carried the first time.

It was slow progress, but they kept on bravely. Often they were delayed by heavy snowstorms. As they could not drag the sledges through the deep drifts, they crept into their tents and slept, waiting for the storm to pass away. When it became possible for them to travel again, they started out, plowing their way through the snow, often so tired that they could hardly lift their feet. Sometimes they journeyed over thin ice, and many a man fell through and just escaped drowning.

It was near the middle of June when the party reached the shores of Baffin bay and began to launch the boats. The launching took a long time, for the surf beat high along the shore, and great masses of drifting ice were dashed about.