VI.] AN ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY. 233 



j^ood, but when it came to an end at the new year, their 

 food for three weeks consisted mainly of ill-smelKng salt bears' 

 flesh. Tobiesen and one of the men were now taken ill. 

 The cold sank to - 39^ C.^ On the 29th April, 1873, 

 Tobiesen died of scurvy. In the month of May his son was 

 also attacked, and died on the 5th July. The two men also 

 suffered from scurvy, but recovered. They rowed south in the 

 month of August, and were rescued by a Russian hunting- 

 vessel. 



The seven men, the harpoouer Henrik Nilsen, Ole Andreas 

 Olsen, Axel Henriksen, Amandus Hansen, Nils Andreas Foxen, 

 Johan Andersson and Lars Larsen, who rowed away in autumn 

 had an exceedingly remarkable fate. When they left the vessel 

 they could only take with them fourteen ship biscuits, six boxes 

 of lucifers, two guns, with ammunition, a spy-glass, a coffee- 

 pot and an iron pot, but no winter clothes to protect them from 

 the cold. At first, in order to get to open water, they had to 

 drag the boat about seven kilometres over the ice. They then 

 steered southwards along the land. The journey was made 

 under circumstances of great difficulty and privation. The 

 darkness and cold increased, as did the storm, and what was 

 worst of all their stock of provisions was very soon consumed. 

 On the second day, however, they were fortunate enough to 

 shoot a bear ; afterwards they also succeeded in killing a pair 

 of seals. Finally, after having partly rowed and partly sailed 

 about three weeks (they had no almanac with them), and tra- 

 velled nearly 400 kilometres, they came to two small hunting or 

 store houses, which the Russians had built on the north side of 

 Gooseland. In order to have at least a roof over their heads 

 the exhausted men settled there, though in the house they 

 found neither food, clothes, nor hunting implements. They 

 were all much enfeebled by hunger, thirst, cold, and the long 

 boat journey; their feet were swollen and partly frost-bitten. 



They remained in the house three weeks, and during that 

 time shot a seal> two Vv'hite foxes, and four reindeer, with which 

 they kept in their lives ; but as it appeared that there were no 

 more reindeer to be had, and there were no more opportunities 

 of shooting seals or reindeer, they determined to leave the 

 house and endeavour to get to Vaygats Island. Wheir they 

 broke up, Ole Andreas Olsen and Henrik Nilsen took the guns 

 and ammunition, while the other five commenced the journey 

 with some small sledges they had found at the house, on which 

 they loaded what they had of clothes and other articles. The 



^ At Mussel Bay, too, during the winter of 1872-73, the greatest degree 

 of cold was the same ; that is to say, at neither place did it reach the 

 freezing-point of mercury. At the Vega's winter station, on the contrary. 

 iv was considerably greater. 



