420 ABRUZZI, THE ROYAL ITALIAN EXPLORER 



November the work of repairing fully occupied the crew; but they 

 succeeded in making the ship water-tight and available for depar- 

 ture when the winter should pass. The bay, by this time, was 

 frozen over sufficiently to preclude any fears of further nips 

 occurring. 



On November 2Oth the last vestige of daylight vanished, and 

 thenceforward the explorers were in the gloom of the Arctic night. 

 A heavy snow-storm entirely covered the dog kennels, so that the 

 animals had to run loose for a time. This was not satisfactory, for 

 those of the creatures which were unable to squeeze into shelter 

 near the hut, were frozen to the ice as they slept. To overcome this, 

 big holes were dug in the ground, the dogs were driven in, and the 

 entrances walled up. But the Arctic dog is a creature of resource, 

 and when the men in charge of them went in due time to feed the 

 animals, it was found that they had made an outlet for themselves 

 by burrowing through the snow, and were again at liberty. A 

 wall of biscuit tins was now built round the inside of the holes, and 

 the entire mass frozen by pourirg water over the tins. But the 

 dogs again burrowed their way out, and they were then left to their 

 own devices, the holes being left open, so that there should be some 

 shelter available for the dogs if they liked to use it. This most of 

 them did not like, preferring to squeeze in between the sides of the 

 hut and the kitchen, where they contributed their share to the enter- 

 tainment by occasional howling choruses during the long dark 

 hours of the winter. 



During the long night the plans for the sledge expeditions 

 to the North, which had been so effectively interrupted by the nip- 

 ping of the ship, were further considered. As the original scheme 

 could no longer be carried out, a modified plan was adopted. Under 

 this, it was determined to send out three parties, which w r ere to 

 start about the middle of February and press forward towards the 

 Pole. Each party was to consist of three Italians. One was to 

 carry provisions for thirty days, the second for sixty days, and the 



