chap, iv ICE FJOED 55 



small boat came alongside, containing a Norwegian, Klaus 

 Thue of Tromso, and a Lapp, the two survivors out of a 

 party of four that were caught by the ice in the preceding 

 October, and compelled to stop in Spitsbergen for the 

 winter. They had a horrible tale to tell of privation, sick- 

 ness, and death. Thue himself was just recovering from 

 scurvy, and looked very ill and weak. He related his story 

 with the assistance of a detailed journal, which, I believe, 

 was afterwards published in the Aftenposten of Christiania. 

 It was briefly as follows : — 



" Last year we came up in a cutter from Tromso to shoot 

 reindeer. There were four of us, the skipper Andreas Holm, 

 Anton Neilsen, the Lapp, and I. We filled up with about 

 seventy reindeer, and on the 14th of October we sailed from 

 Advent Bay for Bell Sound, whence after a few more days' 

 hunting we meant to sail home. On the 16th we were off 

 the mouth of Bell Sound, and were surprised to find it 

 blocked with ice so early in the winter. Moreover there 

 was the ice-pack outside to the south and west, so that it 

 was only off the mouth of Ice Fjord that there was open 

 water. Then we knew that we were shut in, and must spend 

 the winter in Spitsbergen. We sailed back to Ice Fjord, and 

 on the 19th cast anchor in Advent Bay, just where the 

 cutter now lies frozen up. The ice has since crushed her, 

 and she is a wreck. She was an old boat and not strong. 



"We lived on board till November 11. It was then 

 getting very dark. On the 12th we shot a reindeer. That 

 was the last day there was light enough for shooting. As 

 soon as we reached Advent Bay we set about making prepara- 

 tions for the winter. W T e dug an oblong hole, about four 

 feet deep, in a dry place a little above the hut. We could 

 not dig deeper, the ground was so hard. We made a roof 

 out of spars and sails. W T e used the door and other materials 

 from the cutter's cabin, and brought the little stove and other 



