214 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND
continually to be successful later by the, in a way, simpler
methods which they were using.
Still, the experience of the day we have just described
seems to have impressed Knight with the advisability of
using a boat later, for on January 19th he tells us he is
making preparations to that end.
For several days after the 19th the sealing was inter-
fered with by too much open water. The most favorable
condition is when the wind merely cracks the ice and
drives it off a few yards, or at most a few hundred yards,
making what is called an open lead. But now the wind
was so strong that after breaking the ice it carried it out
of sight and, as Knight expresses it, they had before them
an open ocean. At other times the wind blew from sea-
ward and then it packed the moving ice so close against
the land floe that there was no sealing because of the
absence of water.
In February they began setting traps again and caught
a number of foxes, but the increasing visibility due to the
lengthening day failed to increase the number of polar
bears seen. On February 8th we have in the diary the
first signs of worry: “All hands hoping for open water,
for the rolled oats and rice will soon be gone if we have to
cook dog feed much longer.” Still, the context indicates
that they are not really fearing shortage of food, but are
merely regretful that these palatable items of diet will
no longer be available “for a change.”
On February 10th Knight outlines a plan the execution
of which would have prevented food shortage. “I have
been thinking of establishing a camp on the north coast
of the island in the spring for the purpose of drying meat,
for several reasons, viz.: should Mr. Stefansson intend to
make [next winter] an ice trip [a trip north over the
EN