stefansson-wrangel-09-30-007-017

17

towards east before the wind until we reached the longitude of 144.5°
west of Greenwich. On July 14 the wind changed to the east easterly and in
about six weeks we drifted to the northwest till we reached the 151st
degree of west longitude. Then the wind changed to the southwest again
latitude on September 3. From then on until October 9, when we started
for the shore, we zigzagged back and forth before the wind and at the
end of 184 days' drifting we were 70 miles north by west of our starting
point of April 8, having drifted a distance of 440 miles, or an average
of two and four-tenths miles per day.

All this time, while drifting, astronomical observations had been
taken on nearly every clear day and we eventually obtained a line of
soundings about 900 miles long. The deepest bottom sounding obtained
was over 2,500 fathoms at a distance of about 90 miles from the north
coast of the continent. A distance of forty miles from shore we had
bottom soundings of over 850 fathoms.

I SUFFER FROM ASTHMA

In the latter part of August I developed asthma. During September
I was very sick and wheezed my way through may many sleepless nights. Having
had no experience with asthma, I had no knowledge of what might happen
from that disease and feared that I might by it be incapacitated from
performing the duties evolving on me as the Commander of the drifting
party. The men I had with me were not so experienced as I and if any-
thing should happen to me there would be danger of the whole party being
lost. So I made up my mind to cut the trip shorter than had been my
original intention. One day late in September I called the men together
in front of the tent.

"We're going to turn back,” I said. "Winter is coming on and I'm
not in shape to look after a party through such conditions as we may