Bartlett started off with the determination to bag the 88th parallel in the next five marches (after which he was to turn back), and I sincerely hoped that he would be able to reel off the miles to that point, as he certainly deserved such a record.
Later I learned that he had intended to cover twenty-five or thirty miles in his first march, which he would have done had conditions not been against him.

Though tired with the long march and the day's work in camp, after a short sleep the night before, I was not able to turn in for several hours after Bartlett got away.

There were numerous details which required personal attention.

There were letters to write and orders for Marvin to take back, together with his instructions for his projected trip to Cape Jesup.
The next morning, Friday, March 26, I rapped the whole party up at five o'clock, after a good sleep all round.

As soon as we had eaten our usual breakfast of pemmican, biscuit, and tea, Henson, Ootah, and Keshungwah, with three sledges and twenty-five dogs, got away on Bartlett's trail.
Marvin, with Kudlooktoo and "Harrigan," one sledge, and seventeen dogs, started south at half-past nine in the morning.
No shadow of apprehension for the future hung over that parting.