RECONNAISSANCE 



Belknap and I made the attempt to reach the head 

 of the fjord in the dory, but after running aground 

 several times we gave up the attempt. Several 

 times a seal bobbed his head up in front of us, 

 but we had taken no firearms with us. Going 

 ashore at the Dory Landing we left the dory there 

 and went on afoot in the direction of the inland- 

 ice. We took with us four days rations, our sleep- 

 ing bags and two one-man tents. As we started 

 out a fierce foehn wind was blowing down the 

 valley off the ice-cap and that night we camped 

 among sand hillocks back from the river so as to 

 get what protection we could from the storm. Dur- 

 ing the night the wind reversed direction and blew 

 with great force up the valley driving the sand 

 against us. Our camp was a dry one, though on 

 our earlier trip we had found sufficient water in 

 hollows of the nearby rock surface. The following 

 night we camped on a small lake which is fre- 

 quented by geese. Mosquitoes and black flies were 

 both especially troublesome. 



The next day we took our course past Karkan- 

 guak and made search for the provision depot laid 

 down for us the preceding winter, but without suc- 

 cess. On the morning of the 22nd we were up at 

 half past five o'clock and after a breakfast of 

 erbswurst and pemmican cooked in a tin can and 



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