rom
the top of a heavy floeberg into the ship's boilers. This work was not
completed until the morning of the 7th, when the fires were started. Due
to the cold, the process of getting up steam was slow work. The ice had
been breaking up daily, new leads were noticed, and on this day, July 7,
a new lead opened at a distance of fifty yards from the ship, and open
water stretched as far south as the eye could see. All hands were put to
work reloading the supplies that had been placed on shore the fall
previous, for it was easy to see that the time for departure was at
hand.

With the boilers in order, an attempt was made to revolve the shaft, but
the propeller was too securely frozen in the ice to move, and so Captain
Bartlett got out the dynamite and succeeded in freeing the bronze
blades.

From the 10th of July to the 13th, a fierce storm raged, clouds of
freeing spray broke over the ship, incasing her in a coat of icy mail,
and the tempest forced all of the ice out of the lower end of the
channel and beyond as far as the eye could see, but the _Roosevelt_
still remained surrounded by ice.

The morning of the 15th, a smart breeze from the northeast was blowing,
and proved of valuable assistance to us, for it caused the huge blocks
of ice that were surrounding the ship to loosen their hold, and for the
first time since October, 1908, the _Roosevelt_ righted herself to an
even keel.

By this time all of our supplies had been loaded and stored, and from
the crow's-nest a stretch of open water could be seen as far as Cape
Rawson. From there to Cape Union the ice was packed solid.

CHAPTER XIX

THE ROOSEVELT STARTS FOR HOME--ESQUIMO VILLAGES--NEW DOGS AND NEW DOG
FIGHTS

It was two-thirty P. M., July 17, 1909, that the _Roosevelt_ pointed her
bow southward and we left our winter quarters and Cape Sheridan. We were
on our journey home, all hands as happy as when, a year previous, we had
started on our way north, with the added satisfaction of complete
success. The ship had steamed but a short distance, when, owing to the
rapidly drifting ice in the channel, she had to be made fast to a
floeberg. At ten-thirty P. M., the lines were loosed and a new start
made. Without further incident, we reached Black Cape.

In rounding the cape the ship encountered a terrific storm, and it was
with the greatest difficulty that she made any headway. The storm
increased and the _Roosevelt_ had to remain in the channel, surrou