stefansson-wrangel-09-31-039v

42 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

etc., for which prizes were given. All of us were in
splendid health and good spirits. At 4 o’clock P. M. we
sat down to a Christmas dinner, at which we had polar
bear steaks, canned lobster, canned ox tongue, creamed
peas, creamed potatoes (which we had saved the whole
time just to have them for Christmas day), canned
asparagus, plum puddings, cakes, nuts and different kinds
of canned fruits.

In the centre of the table was placed a small artificial
Christmas tree as the main decorative feature. It was
a feast royal, the richest, I have no doubt, ever spread
so far north of the Arctic Circle. Capt. Bartlett sent down
a bottle of liquor to every five or six men, as an additional
feature of good cheer. It was the only time since the ex-
pedition started that we were allowed any liquor except
on the advice of the surgeon in case of sickness.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day was
uneventful. We celebrated New Year’s Day by having a
game of football on the ice. There were several Scotch-
men with us who challenged all nations to play them.
The game lasted an hour and was hotly contested. The
allies won by a score of 8 to 3. We had a special dinner
that day also. We might have had several more fine
dinners had we known what was before us, for there
were large stores of good things abandoned later when
we were forced to leave the ship.

On January 10, 1914, at 5 o’clock in the morning, the
crisis came. Without a moment’s warning, there was a
crash and roar that awakened every one. Again all
hurried out to see what had happened. We discovered
that leads had opened in several directions fore and aft
the ship and on both sides of her. The Karluk was right
in one of the leads. Making a hurried examination, we