Whenever I could do so I had eased their loads for them, giving them the best dogs, and keeping the poorest dogs with the teams of those Eskimos who I knew were going back.

It was a part of the deliberate plan to work the supporting parties as hard as possible, in order to keep the main party fresh up to the farthest possible point.
From the beginning there were certain Eskimos who, I knew, barring some unforeseen accident, would go to the Pole with me.

There were others who were assigned not to go anywhere near there, and others who were available for either course.

If any accidents occurred to those men whom I had originally chosen, I planned to fill their places with the next best ones who were all willing to go.
On Bartlett's return the Eskimos built the usual wind shelter already described, and Bartlett took a latitude observation, getting 87 deg.

46' 49''.
Bartlett was naturally much disappointed to find that even with his five-mile northward march of the morning he was still short of the 88th parallel.