EXPLORING THE BAY 263 



our watches, we were again on the road on Monday 

 the 18th. We were not very loth to leave the house; 

 indoor existence had become rather uncomfortable on 

 account of constant dripping from the ceiling. In the 

 course of the winter a quantity of ice had formed in the 

 loft. As the kitchen fire was always going after our 

 return, the temperature became high enough to melt 

 the ice, and the water streamed down. Lindstrom was 

 annoyed and undertook to put a stop to it. He dis- 

 appeared into the loft, and sent down a hail of ice, 

 bottle-straw, broken cases, and other treasures through 

 the trap-door. We fled before the storm and drove 

 away. This time we had to carry out our instructions 

 as to the exploration of the long eastern arm of the Bay 

 of Whales. During the autumn several Sunday excur- 

 sions had been made along this remarkable formation; 

 but although some of these ski-runs had extended as far 

 as twelve miles in one direction, there was no sign of 

 the hummocks coming to an end. These great dis- 

 turbances of the ice-mass must have a cause, and the 

 only conceivable one was that the subjacent land had 

 brought about this disruption of the surface. For 

 immediately to the south there was undoubtedly land, 

 as there the surface rose somewhat rapidly to a height 

 of 1,000 feet; but it was covered with snow. There 

 was a possibility that the rock might project among the 

 evidences of heavy pressure at the foot of tliis slope; 

 and with this possibility in view we made a five days' 



