380 NAN SEN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "FRAM" 



kayaks, it was no easy matter to extricate the weapon, and while he 

 was seeking to get it he heard Johansen quietly say, "You will have 

 to hurry if you don't want to be too late." 



The two dogs, all that were left of the twenty-eight, were 

 standing snarling at the bear, and as Johansen spoke the one which 

 always traveled with him approached nearer. The bear, having his 

 attention for the moment distracted, stepped off Johansen, who im- 

 mediately wriggled away and scrambled to his feet. Just as the 

 bear turned on to the dog, Nansen got the gun out of its case. 

 Swinging round, he found the bear close beside him, and he pulled 

 the first trigger he touched. It fired the barrel loaded with shot, 

 but so near was the bear that the charge entered behind the ear 

 without having time to scatter, and brought him down dead 

 between Nansen and Johansen. 



The former was terribly afraid that his companion had been 

 seriously injured, but the only mark the bear had left was a streak 

 across the face where the dirt had been scraped away. As they had 

 not washed their faces since they left the "Fram," there was a thick 

 covering of dirt on them, and the bear's claw, as it passed over 

 Johansen's face, had scraped this away, leaving the white skin to 

 show through. 



Though land had been seen in June, they had a long struggle 

 over the ice and water before it came in sight again. Through the 

 remainder of the month and the whole of July they battled with the 

 broken ice and difficult channels, making little progress with great 

 toil, and it was August 6th before land was once more seen, what 

 they saw being one of a group of four islands. They continued, 

 however, upon the ice, following it downward until August 26th, 

 when they were in about latitude 81 degrees 13 minutes north and 

 longitude 55^ degrees east. They had been hoping to reach Spitz- 

 bergen, where a ship might have been found, but the season was 

 now so far advanced that they felt it necessary to winter where they 

 were. In crossing the open water to the shore they found it impos- 



