Naturally we stopped for a consultation. To proceed further, it would be necessary to cross this 100 yard expanse of water in the skiff and canoe, but embarking from ice and disembarking onto ice were difficult operations, with the possibility of loss of instruments or records of the trip and even a chance of accident to personnel or dogs.
Jewett and I volunteered to make a dash for it with the canoe and hauling it or carrying it across the ice and using it to cross the patches of open water, which it seemed certain we would meet, in the remaining 40 odd miles. But Mr. Russell refused to permit an undertaking which he considered too dangerous. Meanwhile, to the east of us, at or near
