NORTH POLE OF THE WINDS 



"good", and pointed to the sky. After a brief 

 conference with the Fiskemeester Jensen it was 

 up anchor and we were off. There was still a 

 heavy swell outside, but we were able to crawl at 

 a snail's pace against the seas; but crawl we did 

 and after thirteen and one-half hours spent on a 

 normal five hours run we were able at ten in the 

 evening to make the little harbor on the north 

 side of the Simiutak ("stopper") at the mouth of 

 the great fjord, where we anchored for the night. 

 On the morning of July 2 we were up betimes 

 and already under way by half past three, though 

 we had not finished our supper the night before 

 until after eleven o'clock. The wind had now died 

 away, but stratus clouds still hung low. We were 

 soon entering the great Sondre Stromf jord by the 

 broad southern entrance. As we moved farther up 

 the fjord the clouds opened up and we could ob- 

 serve the grandeur of the scenery. The fjord was 

 here about a mile and three-quarters wide and 

 from both banks the land rose in precipitous rocky 

 walls to heights of three thousand feet and more. 

 On the southern wall through each cross valley we 

 could see the great arm of the inland-ice which 

 here pushes out to the sea and a tongue of glacier 

 coming down to the very fjord itself. On either 

 side of these couloirs the rock stood up in great 



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