Reaching Henson’s first igloo, Marvin, Ryan and I remained and began working upon an additional igloo, while I sent my Eskimos ahead with half-loads to form an advance cache and reconnoitre the ice. They returned with a report that the ice was heavily rafted since yesterday’s party passed and the trail faulted. Two sledges were considerably damaged by the day’s work. My supper and breakfast of tea and raw frozen, musk-ox steak were more than enjoyable. Again I quote from my Journal: “The battle is on at last. We are straightened out on the ice of the Polar Sea heading direct for our goal.” The 7th was another fine day, somewhat milder than the 6th with more or less mist hiding the land and partially obscuring the sun. Good going up to the advance loads, beyond which, after some skirmishing, we picked up the broken trail again on young ice. While we were traversing this ice, pronounced movement occurred and leads and rafters began to form about us, sometimes occurring between successive sledges, and it required rapid, effective work to assemble all the sledges upon a fragment of old floe some hundred yards across, where we were compelled to wait some time, until the motion of the ice ceased. When it did so, after another brief skirmish, we picked up the trail north of us, and followed it to the second igloo. Here two Eskimos remained with me, to build an igloo, Marvin and Ryan taking their places with the sledges and returning with the others to bring up the previous day’s advance loads. When they returned they reported the ice still in motion in our rear, and that they had reached the cache just in time to save it from being obliterated by a huge rafter. [Illustration: CAPE HECLA WITH CAPE JOSEPH HENRY IN THE DISTANCE ] [Illustration: CAPTAIN BARTLETT AT CAPE HECLA ] While at this camp, the floe on which my igloos were built split in two, shattering the igloos, and the ice, evidently under severe pressure, rumbled and groaned continuously. The 8th was a fine day with some wind from the northwest, and the land hidden by water-smoke forming over the numerous cracks and narrow leads resulting from the movement of the ice.