The Start. 95 



sleet. Mountains, plains, and house-roofs were all 

 covered with snow down to the water's edge. It was 

 the very bitterest July day I ever experienced. The 

 people there said they could not remember such a July. 

 Perhaps they were afraid the place would come into 

 disrepute, for in a town where they hold snow-shoe races 

 on Midsummer Day one may be prepared for anything 

 in the way of weather. 



In Tromso the next day a new member of the expe- 

 dition was engaged, Bernt Bentzen a stout fellow to 

 look at. He originally intended accompanying us only 

 as far as Yugor Strait, but as a matter of fact he went 

 the whole voyage with us, and proved a great acquisi- 

 tion, being not only a capital seaman, but a cheerful and 

 amusing comrade. 



After a stay of two days we again set out. On the 

 night of the :6th, east of the North Cape or Magero, 

 we met with such a nasty sea, and shipped so much 

 water on deck, that we put into Kjollefjord to adjust 

 our cargo better by shifting the coal and making a few 

 other changes. We worked at this the whole of two 

 days, and made everything clear for the voyage to 

 Novaya Zemlya. I had at first thought of taking on 

 board a fresh supply of coal at Vardo, but as we were 

 already deeply laden, and the Urania was to meet us at 

 Yugor Strait with coal, we thought it best to be con- 

 tented with what we had already got on board, as we 

 might expect bad weather in crossing the White Sea 



