Lockwood’s Corner.
“My corner, which is the coldest of all the corners, was improved by covering floor and walls with paper. I also found an improvement by adding side-boards to the bunk, and finally by converting the bed into a regular sleeping-bag. Before this was done, I sometimes became very chilly during the night after the fires went down. Our lamps now burn all day. How wearisome this constant artificial light becomes, we know from the experience of last winter. I dread it under our present social relations. Even Lieutenant Greely refers to these as intensifying what would otherwise not much distress him. My daily routine is somewhat as follows: Breakfast at half-past seven, with scarcely a word spoken by any one. Then I smoke, standing by the stove in the cook’s room. Afterward, tailoring or some other work. At noon, a walk to Proteus Point if possible. Afterward, read or sleep till dinner at four. Again smoke as before. Then a few games of chess with Lieutenant Greely or checkers with the Esquimaux. Then read a little French or a good deal of whatever I find most interesting. Then to my army-bunk, to sleep till next morning, when the same routine is repeated.”
On the 20th, he made a trip to Depot “B” with some of the men and two dog-sledges to bring down the musk-ox meat left there in cache. They found the foot-ice near shore so rough that they had to keep well out, but still they made the eighteen miles in six hours, which may be regarded as fair traveling with dogs.
They met many bear-tracks, but old, probably made by the same animals that visited the station. They found that these animals, and also foxes, had found their meat-cache and had done much damage, four quarters of meat and fifteen geese having been eaten by them or taken away. Returning next day with what remained, and taking in more meat at St. Patrick’s Bay in still worse condition, they made their way home over a sea of rubble-ice. To show the effects of ice-movements, Lockwood observed, when crossing Watercourse Bay on their return, the sledge-tracks made the day before fifty feet in the air on top of floe-bergs!
They made a visit to some floe-bergs at the mouth of Lady Franklin Bay to get specimens of colored ice seen there on a berg. These were mostly yellow, but some specimens almost black. On melting, they gave an offensive odor, and made deposits of their color. Analysis only could determine the nature of the coloring-matter. Young ice was measured, and found to be twenty inches thick.
Lockwood would have been glad enough to be away from that cold region, and yet he seemed determined again to explore the north Greenland coast, and thought that, under favorable circumstances, he could go farther than he had already gone by at least seventy-five miles, thereby manifesting a degree of pluck almost unique in its character. Difficulties might arise to defeat his plans, but, these surmounted, all his energies and hopes would be directed to returning home. It was Lieutenant Greely’s opinion, however, that his “farthest” would not be again reached in the present century.
On the 5th of November Dr. Pavy returned from an expedition to Carl Ritter Bay, which he had reached by following the valley back of Cape Lieber, as the ice-foot was found impracticable. The dog-food, or dried fish, taken, being insufficient and poor, one of the dogs died, and was immediately eaten by the others. The straits below were found quite open. They killed one musk-ox, but could not bring in the meat. On the return, so rough was the ice over the bay that twelve hours were required to cross from Cape Baird.
The doctor urged the policy of storing provisions at Cape Hawkes for their boat-journey, a thing easier to talk about than to do, as Cape Hawkes was one hundred and fifty-five miles, in a straight line, south of Lady Franklin Bay, and it would occupy a dog-sledge to go and return at least one month. If anything was to be done in that direction, all thoughts of further exploration must be abandoned. The doctor predicted that a naval expedition would be sent for them the next year, Congress having hitherto failed to provide for their relief.
In one of his tramps to Proteus Point, Lockwood’s feet were again frosted, owing partly to his imperfect foot-gear, and he then became convinced that a light, flexible moccasin was the best thing to wear in that country.