chap, vii THE SASSENDAL 103 



driven by the wind ! Who, I wonder, told us that rain 

 seldom falls in the summer in Spitsbergen, and then only 

 slightly and with little wind ? The same person perhaps who 

 said that there were no rivers in the island ! As the hours 

 advanced the storm became ever worse, but it manifested 

 the excellence of our little tent, which neither bowed before 

 the gale nor let the rain through. For their credit let me 

 here record that it was manufactured by the Military Equip- 

 ment Stores. 



In the midst of our first slumber that night, we were 

 aroused to consciousness by a voice without, and, looking 

 forth, beheld Gregory standing alone in the midst of a 

 universe reeking with wet. Water ran off him in cascades 

 from all points. He said the others were near at hand. 

 Trevor-Battye and Pedersen presently appeared with the 

 ponies and lightly-laden sledges, having come straight through 

 from Advent Point, in the very midst and fury of the 

 opposing storm. Trevor-Battye had come to pay a call and 

 discuss plans. He made light of his discomforts and only 

 craved a little food before setting forth on his return, being 

 too wet to remain without bedding or change. He sat in 

 the tent door, patiently eating his ration, and agreed to come 

 round by boat to Sassen Bay in four days' time and meet 

 us there, weather and ice permitting. As a matter of fact 

 weather and ice did not permit. What actually happened 

 was as follows. The gale then blowing carried the heavy 

 East Coast ice up the west coast of Spitsbergen. Next day 

 the fickle wind changed and blew this ice into Ice Fjord, 

 packing the mouth of Advent and Sassen Bays. Day after 

 day the procession of ice-floes continued, and no boat could 

 make head against the wind or find a way through the packed 

 ice to come at Sassen Bay, though various attempts were 

 made. At last on the 6th they were able to leave — Trevor- 

 Battye, H. E. Conway, and a sailor. A day's work carried 



