258 THE EASTERN SLEDGE JOURNEY 



the tent, and the drift was not long in finding a way- 

 through these when the tent was up again. To con- 

 clude my day's work I had, therefore, a longish tailor's 

 job, while the other two men were digging out a good 

 feed for the dogs, who had been on half-rations for the 

 last two days. That night we went rather short of 

 sleep. Vulcan, the oldest dog in Johansen's team, 

 was chiefly to blame for this. In his old age Vulcan 

 was afflicted with a bad digestion, for even Eskimo dogs 

 may be liable to this infirmity, hardy as they generally 

 are. The protracted blizzard had given the old fellow 

 a relapse, and he proclaimed this distressing fact by 

 incessant howling. This kind of music was not calcu- 

 lated to lull us to sleep, and it was three or four in the 

 morning before we could snatch a nap. During a pause 

 I was just dropping off, when the sun showed faintly 

 through the tent. This unwonted sight at once banished 

 all further thoughts of sleep ; the Primus was lighted, a 

 cup of chocolate swallowed, and out we went. Stubberud 

 and Johansen set to work at the hard task of digging 

 out the sledges ; they had to go down four feet to get hold 

 of them. I dragged our wet clothes, sleeping-bags, and 

 so forth out of the tent, and hung them all up to dry. 

 In the course of the morning observations were taken 

 for determining the geographical longitude and latitude, 

 as well as a few photographs, which will give some idea 

 of what our camp looked like after the blizzard. 



Having made good the damage and put everything 



