264 NORTH MAGNETIC POLE AND NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 



pretended that they had no knowledge of the matter. After address- 

 ing myself to them two or three times in vain I grew tired of it, and 

 got out one of our carbines. I then explained to them as well as I 

 could that I knew who the thieves were, and that I would shoot them 

 if the articles were not given back. This worked. The things were 

 returned in a hurry. I did not dare to make any depot in the neigh- 

 borhood of these thieves, but retraced my steps, and confided every- 

 thing to the care of our new friends, the Nechjilli Eskimo. I was 

 never disappointed in the confidence I placed in these people; they 

 were what they appeared to be from the very first moment— thor- 

 oughly honest. Quite a crowd of them joined company with us, and 

 returned to the Gjoa., staying with us for a few days. 



On April 6 I started off with Sergt. Peder Eistvedt to make 

 magnetic investigations in the vicinity of the pole. We were equipped 

 for three months, but our nine dogs were not equal to drawing the 

 heavily loaded sledges. We had a couple of Eskimo with us who 

 were going out to capture seal. It was a lovely day, and curious as it 

 may sound, felt quite summer-like, with a temperature of — 22° F. 

 ( — 30° C). We had, of course, been used to a much lower tempera- 

 ture during the two preceding months, February giving an average 

 of about — 45° F. ( — 43° C). This was the reason w^hy we per- 

 spired as if we were in the Tropics that day with its — 22°. We had 

 to throw^ off garment after garment, and only stopped when modesty 

 demanded it of us. This sledge trip was not very successful. An 

 injury to my leg, which I incurred, kej^t me lying in my bag for a 

 week. I had, however, the satisfaction of getting as close to the 

 pole as was necessary. We had been obliged on our way to cache 

 one of our sledges and provisions for a month in order to hasten our 

 advance. This was unluckily in the neighborhood of the Ichjuach- 

 torvik Eskimo hunting grounds. When we came back to fetch our 

 things, everything, with the exception of 10 pounds of pemmican, had 

 been stolen. We were thus obliged to return home after only two 

 months' absence. 



In the beginning of June large numbers of Eskimo appeared at the 

 ship with blubber and skins of seals for sale, which they had caught 

 during the course of the winter months. We paid them in wood and 

 iron. In the middle of July most of them left us again in different 

 directions to hunt reindeer and catch salmon. In the summer of 

 1904 Lieutenant Hansen went on a rowing expedition with one man to 

 Cape Crozier, about 100 miles distant, to put down a large depot. 

 The latter was for use on his sledge journey to the east coast of 

 Victoria land, planned for the spring of 1905. Gustav Wiik had all 

 this time had sole charge of the magnetic observations of the station, 

 and had done excellent work. The summer was short and cheerless. 

 The vessel slipped the ice on July 22. Of birds of passage we saw 



