other explorers
have had so efficient and congenial a party as mine this last time.
Every man was glad to subordinate his own personal feelings and
ambitions to the ultimate success of the expedition.

Marvin made a sounding about a half mile north of the camp and got eight
hundred and twenty-five fathoms, which substantiated my belief that we
had crossed the "Big Lead." This lead probably follows the continental
shelf which this sounding showed to be between there and Camp No. 4
(with the probability of its being between Camp Nos. 4 and 5), probably
at about the 84th parallel. The continental shelf is simply a submerged
plateau surrounding all the continent, the "Big Lead" marking the
northern edge of that shelf where it dips into the polar sea.

Monday, March 15, was also clear and cold, with a temperature between
45 deg. and 50 deg. below zero. The wind had shifted again to the east and was
very penetrating. Bartlett and Marvin started off with the pickaxes as
soon as they had finished their morning tea and pemmican, and their
divisions, with Borup and his division, followed as soon as their
sledges were stowed.

MacMillan got away for Columbia with two Eskimos, two sledges, and
fourteen dogs. The main expedition now comprised sixteen men, twelve
sledges, and one hundred dogs. One sledge had been broken up to repair
the others, three had been taken back with the returning parties, and
two were left at this camp to be utilized on the return. Of the sledges
that now went on, seven were the new type of Peary sledge and five were
the old Eskimo pattern.

After saying good-by to MacMillan I followed the other three divisions
to the north, bringing up the rear as previously. The going in this
march was similar to that of the previous one, fairly good, as it was
over the old floes. The soreness in my fractured leg which had troubled
me more or less all the way from Cape Columbia was now almost entirely
gone.

Late in the afternoon we began to hear loud reports and rumblings among
the floes, as well as the more sibilant sound of the raftering young ice
in various directions. This meant more open water ahead of us. Soon an
active lead cut right across our path, and on the farther or northern
side of it we could see that the ice was moving. The lead seemed to
narrow toward the west, and we followed it a little way until we came to
a place where there were large pieces of floating ice, some of them
fifty or a hundred feet