It was clear that it would take very little strain or pressure to detach us and set us afloat also like Bartlett's division.
I routed Henson and his men out of their igloo, gave orders to everybody to pack and hitch up immediately, and, while this was being done, leveled a path across the crack to the big floe at the west of us.

This was done with a pickax, leveling the ice down into the crack, so as to make a continuous surface over which the sledges could pass.

As soon as the loads were across and we were safe on the floe, we all went to the edge of the lead and stood ready to assist Bartlett's men in rushing their sledges across the moment their ice raft should touch our side.
Slowly the raft drifted nearer and nearer, until the side of it crunched against the floe.

The two edges being fairly even, the raft lay alongside us as a boat lies against a wharf, and we had no trouble in getting Bartlett's men and sledges across and onto the floe with us.
Though there is always a possibility that a lead may open directly across a floe as large as this one, we could not waste our sleeping hours in sitting up to watch for it.

Our former igloos being lost to us, there was nothing to do but to build another set and turn in immediately.