506 Chapter VIII. 



to the south, or we shall be i8j miles past Cape Fligely, 

 on June ist, with five dogs and nine days' provisions 

 left. But it is probable, in the first place, that we shall 

 long before this have reached land ; and, secondly, so 

 early as the first half of April the Austrians found open 

 water by Cape Fligely and abundance of birds. Con- 

 sequently in May and June we should have no difficulty 

 as regards food, not to mention that it would be strange 



o <j 



indeed if we had not before that time met with a bear, 

 or a seal, or some stray birds. 



" That we should now be pretty safe I consider as 

 certain, and we can choose whichever route we please : 

 either along the north-west coast of Franz Josef Land 

 by Gillis Land towards North-East Island and Spitz- 

 bergen (and should circumstances prove favourable, this 

 would decidedly be my choice), or we can go south 

 through Austria Sound towards the south coast of Franz 



O 



Josef Land, and thence to Novaya Zemlya or Spitz- 

 bergen, the latter by preference. We may, of course, 

 find Englishmen on Franz Josef Land, but that we 

 must not reckon on. 



' Such, then, is my calculation. Have I made it 

 recklessly ? No, I think not. The only difficulty would 

 be if during the latter part of the journey, in May, w r e 

 should find the surface like that we had here last spring, 

 at the end of May, and should be considerably delayed 

 by it. But this would only be towards the very end of 

 our time, and at worst it could not be entirely impassable. 



