chap, iv ICE FJORD 



57 



we could not go straight on, but had to follow beside a lead, 

 which two bears were also following. We all landed near 

 Hyperite Hat, and there we killed the bears and left them, 

 meaning to go back at once with our sledges from Advent 

 Bay, and take the bear's meat over to Cape Thordsen, for 

 we had made in all three sledges out of boards and barrel- 

 irons ; two of these were at Advent Bay, and one was at 

 Cape Thordsen. 



" Bad weather again prevented us from crossing, or even 

 from going for the bears. The ice broke up in the fjord 

 and it was all open water, much more open than it is now. 

 In fact from February to May there was no ice in Ice 

 Fjord, but only open water. Our coal now gave out again, 

 but we fetched a supply of three and a half barrels full from 

 the little valley behind Advent Point. The bad weather con- 

 tinued till March 13, when we went in our open boat for 

 the skins of the bears. The big one was still quite good, 

 but the smaller had been torn by other bears. We tried 

 to go over to Cape Thordsen, but loose ice came packing 

 down on us, and we had to return to Advent Bay. 



"Now the skipper became very ill with scurvy. He 

 hobbled about on crutches for a time, but at last could no 

 longer walk. For twenty-seven days he lay in his bunk and 

 then died. The ground was so hard we could not bury him, 

 so we put his body into two molasses barrels and covered 

 them with a sail. He died on the 30th of April. On the 

 nth of May, we left Advent Bay in our open boat to go to 

 Bell Sound, for I was stricken with scurvy, and we thought 

 that some one would come into Bell Sound to look for us, 

 and so we should be sooner relieved than if we stayed in 

 Advent Bay. There was no ice anywhere about. We reached 

 the cape at the north of Bell Sound safely, but were kept 

 there by bad weather for five days. Then we went on to 

 the Mittel Hook, where we set up a tent. I lay in it very ill 



