252 XORTH MAGNETIC POLE AND NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 



worked her way slowlj'^ forward against a southerly breeze. The voy- 

 age across the Atlantic has been made countless times, and does not 

 offer any particular interest. A great number of people had. indeed, 

 designated this ocean as the Gjoa's last resting place ; but in spite of 

 many prophecies and many warnings our good little Gjoa quietly 

 and calmly worked her way onward, giving not a moment's thought 

 to all the wiseacres. How glorious it was to have exchanged the nar- 

 row hot streets for the open sea. and not only we human beings 

 enjoyed the change, but our dogs likewise. We had, I should explain, 

 six dogs with us which had taken part in Sverdrup's expedition, and 

 they seemed to enjoy the voyage exceedingly, running about and get- 

 ting into as much mischief as they could. Their spirits were par- 

 ticularly high on rough days, for then they had an agreeable change 

 in their otherwise somewhat monotonous diet (consisting of a stock- 

 fish and a quart of water) in the shape of the delicious viands sacri- 

 ficed to them by my seasick companions. 



On July 9 we sighted the first ice, in the vicinity of Cape Farewell, 

 the southern extremity of Greenland, and on the 11th the land around 

 the cape itself appeared in sight. The wind, which had not been par- 

 ticularly favorable to us up to this, did not improA'e now, and our 

 voyage up the whole of the west coast of Greenland was thus one 

 single struggle against the ever-prevailing north wind. We had to 

 console ourselves with the proverb that it is " an ill winde that blow- 

 eth no man to good." Though the opposing wind from the north hin- 

 dered our progress, it at any rate set the ice in motion southward, and 

 made a way for us. 



The voyage, which had hitherto been somewhat monotonous, be- 

 came more lively on the appearance of the ice. Icebergs of varying 

 shape glided past us and arrested our attention. Xow and then we 

 made an excursion into the drift ice and shot some of the beautiful 

 large bladder-nose seal that were lying about on the higher parts of 

 the ice. Both men and dogs were longing for fresh meat, and this 

 seal flesh provided us with an agreeable change in our menu. 



On July 24 we sighted Disco Island, and the day afterwards 

 anchored at Godhavn, whither the Eoyal Danish Greenland Trading 

 Company had been kind enough to bring some of our equipment in 

 their ships. Here we spent five days, enjoying the great hospitality 

 of the inspector and the governor of the colony. After having taken 

 a series of magnetic and astronomical observations and shipped all 

 our things, we left the place on July 31. 



On August 8 we reached Holm Island, which marks the beginning 

 of the redoubtable Melville Bay. Tlie ice was packed close, though 

 it proved to be broken. We kept cruising backward and forward 

 alongside the edge, watching for an opportunity to enter it. and at 

 last, on the evening of the 10th, it so far separated that we were able 



