elt_ from a little aft of the mainmast to the
mizzenmast. In the center is the engine-room, with the skylight and the
uptake from the boilers, and on either side are the cabins and the
messrooms. My own cabin occupied the starboard corner aft; forward from
this was Henson's room, the starboard messroom, and in the forward
starboard corner Surgeon Goodsell's room. On the port side aft was
Captain Bartlett's room, occupied by himself and Marvin, and forward
from this in succession the cabin of the chief engineer and his
assistant, the cabin of Percy, the steward, and the cabin of MacMillan
and Borup; then the mate and the boatswain were in the forward port
corner of the deckhouse, next the port messroom of the junior officers.
The starboard mess comprised Bartlett, Dr. Goodsell, Marvin, MacMillan,
Borup, and myself.

I shall not dwell at great length upon the first stage of the journey
from Sydney to Cape York, Greenland, for the reason that it is only a
pleasant summer cruise at that season of the year, such as any
fair-sized yacht may undertake without peril or adventure; and there are
more interesting and unusual things to write about. In passing through
the Straits of Belle Isle, "the graveyard of ships," where there is
always danger of encountering icebergs in the fog, or being swung upon
the shore by the strong and capricious currents, I remained up all
night, as any man would who had care for his ship. But I could not help
contrasting that easy summer passage with our return in November, 1906,
when the _Roosevelt_ was standing on end half the time, and the rest of
the time was rolling the rail under water, losing two rudders, being
smashed by the sea, creeping along the Labrador coast in the berg
season, through dense fog, and picking up Point Amour Light only when
within a stone's throw of the shore, guided only by the sirens at Point
Amour and Bald Head, and the whistles of the big steamships lying at the
entrance of the strait, afraid to attempt the passage.

CHAPTER IV

UP TO CAPE YORK

On Sunday, July 19, we sent a boat ashore at Point Amour Light with
telegrams back home--the last. I wondered what my first despatch would
be the following year.

At Cape St. Charles we dropped anchor in front of the whaling station.
Two whales had been captured there the day before, and I immediately
bought one of them as food for the dogs. This meat was stowed on the
quarter-deck of the _Roosevelt_. There are sev