ABRUZZI, THE ROYAL ITALIAN EXPLORER 425 



also to see whether the men had taken refuge on the islands further 

 to the northeast, where Nansen and Johansen had passed their 

 winter. The search was continued until May loth, when the parties 

 returned, having searched far and wide but without finding any 

 trace of the missing detachment. It was then hoped that they had 

 made their way to Cape Flora, where there was an abundance of 

 food and other necessaries, but when the "Stella Polare" touched 

 there, on her way home, no signs were found of the missing men, 

 and it was then realized that they were lost. How, or when, or 

 where, they had met their end, no one could form any opinion. A 

 break in the ice may have precipitated them into a channel; cold 

 may have overcome them as they slept; moving hummocks may 

 have overwhelmed them, or a sudden snow-storm may have caused 

 them to lose their direction, and have led them into dangers they 

 were not able to escape. When no trace could be found of them, 

 and no vestige of their outfit discovered on the ice, or the islands, 

 there was only one thing the survivors could realize, and that was 

 that their comrades had gone out of the world in silence, in mystery 

 and in sacrifice to the knowledge of humanity. 



As the month of May gradually passed, the members of the 

 expedition gathered at Cape Fligely so as to maintain a steady 

 watch for the return of the main detachment. In addition to the 

 watch party there was also a party at Teplitz Bay, and word was 

 sent from one place to the other as the days went by, while short 

 journeys were constantly being taken along the shores on the 

 lookout for the return of Captain Cagni and his companions. The 

 provisions they had with them were calculated only to last until 

 May 26th, but the leader had expressed his intention, if he had not 

 succeeded in reaching far enough to the north, of proceeding on 

 reduced rations so as to attain as high a latitude as possible before 

 returning. 



On the reduced scale they would be able to subsist until June 

 loth, but when that date arrived and still there was no sign of them, 



