On the 8th of September the thermometer stood at 12 above zero, the next day at 4.
The heavier cases, containing the tins of bacon, pemmican (the condensed meat food used in the Arctic), flour, et cetera, were utilized ashore like so many blocks of granite in constructing three houses, about fifteen feet by thirty.

All the supplies were especially packed for this purpose, in boxes of specified dimensions--one of the innumerable details which made for the success of the expedition.

In building the houses the tops of the boxes were placed inside, the covers removed, and the contents taken out as needed, as from a shelf, the whole house being one large grocery.
The roofs were made of sails thrown over boat booms or spars, and later the walls and roof were banked in solidly with snow.

Stoves were set up, so that, if everything went well, the houses could be used as workshops during the winter.
So here we were, safely bestowed at Cape Sheridan, and the prize seemed already in our grasp.

The contingencies which had blocked our way in 1906 were all provided for on this last expedition.