404 MODERN VIKINGS IN THE ARCTIC SEAS. 



localities to which chief attention was to be paid, the commander of 

 the expedition was to use his own judgment; but on one point the 

 instructions were definite and emphatic there was to be no attempt 

 at a dash for the Pole. 



On the way along the Greenland coast dogs for the sledge 

 teams were procured and a large amount of walrus meat to feed 

 them was obtained. The floating ice checked them in Smith Sound, 

 and on August 2ist a locality was chosen for winter quarters in 

 Rice Strait, on the coast of Ellesmere Land. 



As Peary was then in the north, engaged in mapping out the 

 land in that direction, the Norwegians decided to give their atten- 

 tion to the land lying on the western side of the strait, in the vicinity 

 of Hayes Sound, where Nares, in 1875, had done considerable work. 

 They completed the survey of the coast line running round Robeson 

 Channel, and, during their stay, not only mapped out an area of one 

 hundred thousand square miles in Ellesmere Land, but also located 

 hitherto undiscovered land, which was named after King Oscar of 

 Norway and taken possession of in his name. Valuable additions 

 were also made to the zoological, geological, meteorological, and 

 botanical records, w r hile the story of the expedition abounds in inter- 

 esting experiences. 



Two expeditions w r ere sent out in a southwest direction across 

 this region, finding a large glacier district in the southern part of 

 Ellesmere Land. The sun set on October i6th for the remainder 

 of the winter. A party was out taking observations over some 

 mountains behind the bay in which the "Fram" was anchored, and 

 had returned to camp for the evening meal as the sun was going 

 down. One of the party drew the attention of the others to it, and 

 they gathered at the door of the tent and watched it in silence. 



"We were looking at the sun for the last time that year," Cap- 

 tain Sverdrup wrote in his account of the expedition. "Its pale 

 light lay dying over the 'inland ice'; its disc, light red, was veiled 

 on the horizon ; it was like a day in the land of the dead. All light 



