It was well that I had discounted the loss of my provisions at the lead. Soon after midnight, my two men returned reporting that they had lost the trail beyond the first igloo south of where we were, and had been stopped by open water and completely shattered ice extending as far as they could see from the highest pinnacles. It was evident that I could no longer count in the slightest degree upon my supporting parties, and that whatever was to be done now, must be done with the party, the equipment, the supplies which I had with me. Unfortunately the party was larger than it need be (eight of us in all), and the supplies much smaller than I could have wished. I gave my men their supper and turned over for another nap while they obtained a few hours’ sleep. I had no occasion to think or worry, I knew already what I should do in this contingency. Early in the morning we started after abandoning everything which we did not absolutely need, and I bent every energy to setting a record pace. In the legacy of irretrievable damage which the storm had left us was one small codicil of good. Such snow as the wind had not torn from the face of the floes was beaten and banked hard, and the snow which had fallen had been hammered into the areas of rough ice and the shattered edges of the big floes, so that they gave us little trouble. North of Storm Camp we had no occasion for snowshoes or pickaxes. The first march of ten hours, myself in the lead with the compass, sometimes on a dog-trot, the sledges following in Indian file with drivers running beside or behind, placed us thirty miles to the good; my Eskimos said forty. At the end of the march I was a tired man. Had raised blisters on the bottom of both my feet, and soft as I was after the days in camp, was sore in every bone with the rapid pace, which was not less than three miles an hour. My Eskimos insisted it was nearer four. The next day the wind was blowing a half gale from west southwest (true) with a great deal of drift. But we had no time to waste in camp, when possible to travel at all.