Soon it became almost impossible to proceed. What had been small cracks on our outward journey, were now so large that we had to ferry ourselves across the water on ice floes and every minute conditions were getting worse. We all got wet but no one actually fell through the ice.
At length, after a grueling day, we reached Hardisty Island, 9 miles from Gypsum Point and decided to pull in there for the night, as we were out of wood for cooking. The last mile or so was a succession of cracks, some large and some small.
When about 50 yards from shore my leader Mervin, over anxious and, as usual stubborn
