NANSEN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "FRAM" 381 



sible to bring their two dogs across in the kayaks and could not 

 abandon the poor brutes on the ice. They therefore mercifully shot 

 them to save them from the painful death of starvation. 



As soon as they came to a place which recommended itself to 

 them, they ran ashore and landed the kayaks and stores. The place 

 was merely a barren, rocky coast, sheltered somewhat by the high 

 ground behind, but without a trace of vegetation. On the beach 

 one piece of drift-wood was found. In addition, there were plenty 

 of small boulders, but such 'material was scarcely sufficient for the 

 building of a hut in which to pass the dreary, cold, dark winter. 



They overhauled their stores, and found they possessed two 

 guns, some cartridges, a small hatchet, and two knives. With the 

 hatchet, after considerable labor, they cut through the piece of drift- 

 wood, and rejoiced in the possession of a suitable ridge-pole for the 

 center of the roof. Stones were collected and built into a low wall, 

 within which all their property, except the guns, kayaks, and knives, 

 was placed. Then, with the unstored articles, they set out along 

 the coast and the floating ice to seek the wherewithal to complete 

 the house. 



Walrus was what they especially needed, for the hide would 

 afford a covering for the roof, the blubber would furnish fuel for 

 the stove, and the meat would be useful as food. They spied two 

 lying at the edge of a piece of ice and, approaching with the utmost 

 caution, succeeded in shooting both. Their weight, however, as 

 they fell over, caused them to slide from the ice, and they were in 

 the water before the men could reach them. They secured the 

 carcases, so as to prevent them from either sinking or drifting 

 away, and essayed to haul them up on the ice again so as to remove 

 the hides and blubber. But the combined strength of the two men 

 was insufficient to pull one of the huge carcases up on to the ice 

 again, and they were compelled to strip the skin and blubber off as 

 the walrus lay in the water. This necessitated lying upon the float- 

 ing carcases, and by the time the operation was completed, their 



