Trial by Ice by Richard Parry

bulk of the sliding ice scour the underlying rock and grind it into fine silt, called glacial flour. This powdery dust turns the melting water into white, milky streams. One of Greenland's fastest-moving glaciers, the Jakobshavn Glacier, slides along at one hundred feet per day. All this ice heads for the ocean.
    Eking a tenuous existence between these wandering walls are scraps of exposed high ground. Spared by the glaciers, the land is scourged by the wind. No trees of note grow there, only stunted and dwarfed birch, scrub alder, and willow. Mainly the barren rock is carpeted with cotton grass, sedge, and lichens. The drier parts are termed tundra, while the wetter hollows are called taiga.
    About this bleak landscape, Arctic foxes, hares, musk ox, and lemmings struggle to survive.
    Well after dark, Mr. Chester's well-traveled whaleboat thumped against the side of the
Polaris.
The first mate, sent to search for the second Inuit sled driver, had returned. A lantern held aloft by the deck watch revealed an astonishing sight. Beaming upward in the reflected light were five round faces and a dozen sled dogs. Awkwardly, the first mate explained to Captain Hall that Hans Christian, while willing to join the expedition, refused to part with his family and all his worldly possessions. Hans saw no difficulty in this. With an Inuit's straightforward logic, he decided to take everything with him. Settling his wife and three small children in the boat, Hans then crammed the craft to its gunnels with his furs, guns, lamps, grass baskets, harpoons, sled, kayak, and his entire dog team. In addition to this was more unwelcome cargo: within the Inuit's hair and among their furs crawled hundreds of lice.
    After the new additions were hauled aboard, a touching reunion took place. Hans shook hands all around with Hall and the officers. When he came to William Morton, he paused. Both Morton and Hans had accompanied Elisha Kent Kane's expedition seventeen years before.
    Those seventeen years at sea had been hard ones for William Morton. It was Morton and Hans who had mushed overland while the rest of the expedition wintered in their icebound ship, the
Advance.
Near Cape Constitution open water halted their foray. Morton returned and reported his findings to Kane. The delusion of the Open Polar Sea was popular at that time, and Morton's findings seemed to confirm that such an open waterway existed. However, the expedition led by Hall's nemesis, Isaac Hayes, seven years later found only ice. Morton was labeled a liar and his beloved Kane faulted for taking the word of an enlisted man. Morton's loss of credibility weighed heavily on him, aging him severely.
    Morton's seamed face had so changed that Hans failed to recognize his old friend. Then Morton showed his hands to the Inuit. An accidental explosion of black powder during the Kane exploration burned and scarred the seaman's hands. Hans took thehands and ran his fingers over the raised scars. Instantly Hans identified the injury and with it his past companion. The two men embraced warmly and shook hands while tears moistened the old explorer's eyes.
    Two days passed while Hall struggled to buy more sled dogs. Without adequate animals to haul the sleds, overland advance would be impossible. No other animal could live and work in the harsh conditions as well as the tough, thick-coated dogs bred by the Inuit. Years later Robert Scott would use ponies instead of dogs to haul his sledges in his quest for the South Pole. That would cost the lives of the entire Scott expedition.
    The commander used the time to strengthen his position. After the Sunday services given by Mr. Bryan, Hall resolved to bell the cat. He rose and addressed the gathering, intending to reaffirm his command over all aspects of the expedition, especially Bessel's group. Instead of unifying his men, as was his intention, the speech did little good. The split had occurred. His words fell upon different ears with differing impact.