194 Chapter V. 



ahead. We landed and made sure that some straits or 

 fjords on the inside of this island to the south were 

 quite closed with firm ice ; and in the evening the Frani 

 forced her way through the drift-ice on the outside of it. 

 We steamed and sailed southwards along the coast all 

 night, making splendid way ; when the wind was blowing 

 stiffest we went at the rate of 9 knots. We came upon 

 ice every now and then, but got through it easily. 



Towards morning (September nth) we had high land 

 ahead, and had to change our course to clue east, 

 keeping to this all clay. When I came on deck before 

 noon I saw a fine tract of hill country with high summits 

 and valleys between. It was the first view of the 

 sort since we had left Vardo, and after the monotonous 

 low land we had been coasting alono' for months, it was 



O O 



refreshing to see such mountains again. They ended 

 with a precipitous descent to the east, and eastward from 

 that extended a perfectly flat plain. In the course of the 

 day we quite lost sight of land, and strangely enough 

 did not see it again; nor did we see the Islands of 

 St. Peter and St. Paul, though, according to the maps, 

 our course lay close past them. 



Thursday, September I2th. Henriksen awoke me 

 this morning at six with the information that there 

 were several walruses lying on a floe quite close to us. 

 " By jove ! ' Up I jumped and had my clothes on in a 

 trice. It was a lovely morning fine, still weather; 

 the walruses' guffaw sounded over to us along the clear 



