236 Chapter VI. 



so that it would be a matter of time to get it ready for 

 use again. Perhaps it would be best to wait a little. 

 Clear weather, with sunshine a beautiful, inspiriting 

 winter day but the same northerly wind. Took 

 soundings and found 50 fathoms of water (90 metres). 

 We are drifting slowly southwards. Towards evening 

 the ice packed together again with much force ; but the 

 Fram can hold her ow T n. In the afternoon I fished in a 

 depth of about 27 fathoms (50 metres) with Murray's 

 silk-net,"" and had a good take, especially ot small 

 crustaceans (kopepodce, ostrakodce, amphipodtc, etc.) and of 

 a little Arctic worm (spadella) that swims about in the sea. 

 It is horribly difficult to manage a little fishing here. No 

 sooner have you found an opening to slip your tackle 

 through, than it begins to close again, and you have to 

 haul up as hard as you can, so as not to get the line 

 nipped and lose everything. It is a pity, for there are 

 interesting hauls to be made. One sees phosphorescencet 

 in the water here whenever there is the smallest opening 

 in the ice. There is by no means such a scarcity of 

 animal life as one might expect. 



* This silk bag-net is intended to be dragged after a boat or ship to 

 catch the living animals or plant organisms at various depths. We used 

 them constantly during our drifting, sinking them to different depths 

 under the ice, and they often brought up rich spoils. 



t This phosphorescence is principally due to small luminous crus- 

 tacea (kopepodcs). 



