egan to right
herself from the pronounced list which she had taken under the press of
the ice in the early winter. On June 16 we had the first of the summer
rains, though the next morning all the pools of water were frozen over.
On the same day Borup captured a live musk calf near Clements Markham
Inlet. He managed to get his unique captive back to the ship alive, but
the little creature died the next evening, though the steward nursed him
carefully in an effort to save his life.

On the summer solstice, June 22, midnoon of the arctic summer and the
longest day of the year, it snowed all night; but a week later the
weather seemed almost tropical, and we all suffered from the heat,
strange though it seems to say it. The glimpses of open water off Cape
Sheridan were increasing in frequency and size, and on July 2 we could
see a considerable lake just off the point of this cape. The 4th of
July as we observed it would have pleased the advocates of "a quiet
Fourth." What with the recent death of Marvin and the fact that the day
was Sunday, nothing out of the ordinary routine was done except to dress
the ship with flags, and there was scarcely enough wind even to display
our bunting. Three years ago that very day the _Roosevelt_ got away from
her winter quarters at almost the same spot in a strong southerly gale;
but the experience on that occasion convinced me that it would be best
to hang on in our present position just as late in July as possible, and
thus give the ice in Robeson and Kennedy Channels more time to break up.

It almost seemed as if the _Roosevelt_ shared with us our anticipation
of a speedy return, for she continued gradually to regain an even keel,
and within four or five days she had automatically completed this
operation. On the 8th we put out the eight-inch hawser and made the ship
fast, bow and stern, in order to hold her in position in case she should
be subjected to any pressure before we were ready to depart. On the same
day we began in real earnest to make ready for the homeward departure.
The work began with the taking on of coal, which, it will be remembered,
had been transferred to shore along with quantities of other supplies
when we went into winter quarters, in order to make provisions against
the loss of the ship by fire, or ice pressure, or what not, in the
course of the winter. The process of getting the ship ready for her
homeward voyage does not require detailed description. Suffice it t