Voyage through the Kara Sea. 207 



It looks as if \ve were being shut in. Well, we must 

 e'en bid the ice welcome. A dead region this ; no life 

 in any direction, except a single seal (phoca fcctida] in the 

 water ; and on the floe beside us we can see a bear-track 

 some days old. We again try to get soundings, but 

 still find no bottom ; it is remarkable that there should 

 be such depth here." 



Ugh ! one can hardly imagine a dirtier, nastier job 

 than a spell of coal-shifting on board. It is a pity that 

 such a useful thing as coal should be so black ! What we 

 are doing now is only hoisting it from the hold, and 

 filling the bunkers with it ; but every man on board 

 must help, and everything is in a mess. So many men 

 must stand on the coal heap in the hold and fill the 

 buckets, and so many hoist them. Jacobsen is specially 

 good at this last job ; his strong arms pull up bucket 

 after bucket as if they were as many boxes of matches. 

 The rest of us go backwards and forwards with the 

 buckets between the main-hatch and the half-deck, 

 pouring the coal into the bunkers ; and down below 

 stands Amundsen packing it, as black as he can be. 

 Of course coal-dust is flying over the whole deck ; the 

 clogs creep into corners, black and tousled ; and we 

 ourselves well, we don't wear our best clothes on such 

 days. We got some amusement out of the remarkable 

 appearance of our faces, with their dark complexions, 

 black streaks at the most unlikely places, and eyes and 

 white teeth shining through the dirt. Anyone happening 



