180 WILHELM LAUB. 
rades there. In spite of the sledge being empty, it took us twenty-five 
hours to make the journey, including a six hours’ rest, but still the 
sledge was of material assistance to us, as without it we could never 
have crossed the numberless fissures, which were the result of the pro- 
gressing thaw; it was also of great use to us in the deep, soft snow. 
In addition our progress was greatly hampered by fog; thus at Frozen 
Bay we went about four miles out of our way to our destination, which 
was ultimately reached on the evening of the 28th. 
Whilst UNGER and I were away at the depot, JØRGENSEN, OLSEN 
and PouLsEN had got the house quite shipshape with a rubble banking 
surrounding it, so that it should not be capsized by the wind, and to 
make it tight and snug they had lined the four walls outside with roofing 
felt. All provisions, clothing and goods were afterwards stowed away 
in the two houses, and there we left a list of the things and two reports 
about the work of the expedition addressed to Capt. MIKKELSEN or 
the committee, should the former not return. If strangers called at our 
former quarters, they would be able to bring the reports home with 
them. 
As luck would have it, however, these reports were never found by 
Capt. MIKKELSEN, so that until he called at the Shannon depot in 1911 
he was ignorant of our fate. The reason was that our skill as tilers was 
not very great, and so the zine plates which we had laid over the 
roof in order to make it water-tight, had been carried away by a storm 
before Capt. MrkKELSEN’s arrival, so that the house was full of snow, 
and when our two friends cleared it away, they most likely shovelled 
away the reports at the same time. 
As I have said before, Capt. MIKKELSEN had enjomed upon me 
under no circumstances to leave before Aug. Ist and preferably not before 
the fifteenth, this latter, however, only after consultation with all the 
members of the expedition. 
Moreover, if we actually left, to try to take the “Alabama” north 
to one of the depots, on the off-chance of there being any news for us 
from MIKKELSEN. 
Circumstances, however, had materially changed, since | had received 
my written instructions in February 1910. I was loth to get away 
prior to the appointed time and now dragged the time of our departure . 
out by all possible expedients which suggested themselves to my fertile 
imagination, but we finally departed twelve hours before the time ar- 
ranged, getting away at 12 noon оп 815 July. 
At the same time I left a letter for Capt. MIKKELSEN, requesting 
him, in case he arrived within the next few days, to go to the Shannon 
depot with all possible speed. 
The “Alabama” had set considerably during my absence from 
the harbour, but the ice, which had not yet melted under her stern, 
