stefansson-wrangel-09-26-001-036

25F

we were living for a purpose and were still a part of the busy world.

But we were drifting, drifting, we knew not to what haven, in the
silent icy fastnesses of the North. On every hand there was an unbroken stretch
of ice, level save where it had been forced into hummocky ridges by the lateral
pressure of its own irresistible mass. So long as the sun was with us to measure
the night and day it was not so bad; but when the orb disappeared a sort of sick-
ening sensation of loneliness came over us. We did not despair, although we knew
that the ice and the tides and currents were bearing us further into the gloom.

After leaving the coast of Alaska our general drift was to the
northwest. Of course, we did not travel in a direct line, but zigzagged about
until we reached the latitude of 75 degrees North, then we took a southwesterly
course to the point that is now designated as Shipwreck Camp on the maps and charts
of Arctic exploration.

There is a peculiar weirdness in those silent stretches of the ice-
pack. Sometimes no sound is heard for hours or days, and then comes the boom or
roar of ice breaking and grinding by its own great weight. The law of compensation
is operative in the Arctic as well as elsewhere, for though we were deprived of
the glories of the day, we often beheld the wonderful beauties of the far northern
night. Most of the time the sky was clear and the stars shone brilliantly; the
Pole Star was almost directly overhead, and the great constellations that rise and
set where most people live made a nightly circuit of our heavens
without setting. The displays of the aurora borealis were remarkable for their
beauty and variety. We often stood upon our drifting world of ice and admired
their shifting colors, forgetful of the dangers that were constantly threatening
to destroy us without warning.

After we had been drifting several weeks, life consisted mainly in
devising means to pass the time. The ship's dogs lived on the ice, preferring the
open to staying on board. We had built shelters for them, but they rarely went