my story. How were we to discover the same or a
similar lead to the north? On the mere chance of discovering such a
passage both vessels had encountered the dangers and terrors of the
Arctic desolations. Dunbar located the chasm in latitude 78.6 N.,
longitude 125 W., and thither we sailed.

"As for the expeditions sent out by the other governments of Europe,
jealous of American prowess, we have not seen or heard of any of them.
Their vessels followed the direction of the Gulf Stream, and the
instructions given their commanders were to first make Spitzbergen,
and thence proceed due north, and if possible find there a passage to
the pole. For ourselves, I will let Captain Adams tell how we got
through the ice barrier."

"That," said Captain Adams, "is a simple enough story, but the actual
experiences were not so simple as the recital of them. We found that
Dunbar's estimate of the location of the passage was within fifty
miles of the exact spot. We found the passage after some days'
searching, about fifty miles beyond Dunbar's location on the chart.
The veritable passage was there, but, as was expected, instead of open
water there was a mass of solid ice of unknown thickness, but
fortunately having a smooth surface.

"There was but one thing to do to overcome such an obstacle, and that
was to haul the ships on runners on top of the ice, right through the
gap formed by nature in the icy barrier. Our labors in making such a
passage were simply superhuman. Both crews were employed for more than
a week in sloping the ice-foot up which the vessels were to be
dragged. Then an enormous cradle had to be constructed of massive
beams of wood securely bolted together, large and strong enough to
carry either vessel. There was fortunately lumber enough for this
purpose, as among the stores of both ships timbers for building Arctic
huts had been included. The cradle was first secured to the hull of
the _Mercury_, and the crews of both vessels took hold of the ropes
made fast to her decks. She was drawn close to the ice, but utterly
refused to leave the water. We tried fixing anchors in the ice ahead,
to which were attached a system of blocks and ropes. These
supplemented the strength of the men by the hoisting engine, but even
this was of no avail. We next rigged up a large drum, vertically over
the shaft of the propeller, and connected it therewith by means of
right-angled cog-wheels. To this was fastened an immense cable, to the