204 Chapter V. 



I calculated that we were now in about /S| north 

 latitude. We tried several times during the day to take 

 soundings, but did not succeed in reaching the bottom 

 with 2 1 5 fathoms of line. 



"To-day made the agreeable discovery that there are 

 bugs on board. Must plan a campaign against them. 



" Friday, September 22nd. Brilliant sunshine once 

 again, and white dazzling ice ahead. First we lay still 

 in the fog because we could not see which way to go ; 

 now it is clear and we know just as little about it. It 

 looks as if we were at the northern boundary of the 

 open water. To the west the ice appears to extend 

 south again. To the north it is compact and white 

 only a small open rift or pool every here and there ; and 

 the sky is whitish-blue everywhere on the horizon. It is 

 from the east we have just come, but there we could see 

 very little ; and for want of anything better to do, we 

 shall make a short excursion in that direction, on the 

 possibility of finding openings in the ice. If there were 

 only time, what I should like would be to go east as far 

 as Sannikoff Island, or, better still, all the way to Bennet 

 Land, to see what condition things are in there ; but it 

 is too late now. The sea will soon be freezing, and we 

 should run a great risk of being frozen in at a dis- 

 advantageous point." 



Earlier Arctic explorers have considered it a necessity 

 to keep near some coast. But this was exactly what I 

 wanted to avoid. It was the drift of the ice that I 



