APPENDIX III 375 



and darkness submerged us. When time came to make 

 camp, we could not find for a long time any iceberg in 

 the lee of which to shelter our tents from the wind. 



When finally we found one we were well-nigh ex- 

 hausted; in the heavy fur clothing that the bitter cold 

 wind had necessitated during the march, I had per- 

 spired until my clothes were wet through; and while 

 we made camp I got so chilled that I was nearly over- 

 come; I have never been so cold as I felt then. Even 

 though we soon got our tents up and our little Primus 

 stoves going, we were almost frozen. 



Such a Christmas Eve as that was! Huddled to- 

 gether in our little tents that barely sufficed to keep the 

 drifting snow out, we cooked the scant supply of bear 

 meat and tea for our supper. Then Rasmussen pro- 

 duced from his sledge-kit two boxes of canned pears 

 that he divided among the party, and I brought forth 

 a package of dates sent me in a gift box brought me 

 from my fiancee by the Cluett the year before, which I 

 had carefully saved for such an occasion. From our 

 bear meat and tea, a little frozen pemmican, and the 

 pears and dates, we made our Christmas supper. After 

 we had cuddled down in our sleeping-bags, tired, and 

 frozen, and worn, Tobias Gabrielsen, a Danish Green- 

 lander in my tent, and I whistled "Stille Nacht, Heilige 

 Nacht," which we both knew; then we exchanged 

 Christmas greetings with the others of the party and 

 fell asleep. 



The days following are a nightmare as I remember 

 them. The going continued hard, the weather cold; 

 our food-supply was almost exhausted, and our dogs 

 were on less than half rations though they needed more 

 than the usual amount of food because of the severe 



