NAN SEN'S MEMORABLE VOYAGE IN THE "PRAM" 385 



utes, for as the coldness numbed him more and more, he realized 

 that unless he overtook the kayaks quickly he would go to the 

 bottom like a stone. The cold penetrated to his lungs, so that he 

 gasped for breath; his hands and feet lost all feeling, and his eyes 

 were growing blurred as he nerved himself for a final desperate 

 struggle. 



Swimming as hard as his strength of will and muscle could 

 command, he succeeded in coming within touch of the light-drifting 

 craft. The fact that the two were fastened together was of the 

 utmost importance under the circumstances^ for had they been 

 separate he could never have clambered into one in his benumbed 

 and exhausted condition. As it was, he managed to get one arm 

 over the ski which formed the coupling between the kayaks. His 

 hands were too cold to grip and he hung for a few seconds resting, 

 till the growing chill in his limbs warned him of the danger he was 

 in of becoming frozen. With a superb effort of determination, he 

 raised himself until he was able to lift a leg over the side of one of 

 the kayaks, and then struggled on board, where he lay for a minute 

 or so trying to recover his breath. 



Still fearing the cold, he grasped a paddle and set to work 

 vigorously to force the kayaks back to the ice on which Johansen 

 was standing. The exertion caused his blood to circulate once more, 

 and, by the time he had reached the ice, the deadly chill was out of 

 his frame. There were no dry clothes to put on in place of his wet 

 ones, and all that could be done was to wring them out, and then, 

 working hard to keep up his circulation, wait till they dried on 

 his back. 



In order to prevent another such occurrence, the kayaks were 

 freed from each other, Nansen occupying one with half the pro- 

 visions and stores, and Johansen the other. Two days after the 

 break away they had reason to be thankful they had made this 

 arrangement. They were skirting along the ice at the time, and 

 suddenly came upon a herd of walrus. Instead of quietly watching 



