OUR FIRST MEETING WITH THE POLAR OX. 39 



Now and then we heard the chirp of a snow-bunting, or an 

 eider-duck, twittering in its sleep ; and once the lowing of a walrus 

 in Alexandra Fjord, wild and sad ; then several more took up the 

 sound, and it rose to a many-voiced, unearthly bellowing, which 

 by degrees sank to discontented grunts and snorts. It must have 

 been a stranger to the herd which had ascended the floe, and been 

 given his due chastisement before he was permitted a night's 

 lodging with the others. Then everything became again as still 

 as death. 



Before we left our resting-place, it had grown so far light that 

 we could see into Hayes Sound. There was no drift-ice on 

 Alexandra Fjord, nor for some distance into the sound ; but out- 

 side the fjord, and across to . Bache Peninsula,* it was closely 

 packed, and, for a ship, absolutely impassable. Had we been able 

 to get the ' Fram ' as far as Alexandra Fjord, we might, without 

 hindrance, have passed right into Hayes Sound. 



During the course of the forenoon, we got back to our doughty 

 sportsmen, who had not shot or seen a single bird. 



Immediately on our return to the ship, we made ready for. 

 another rowing trip, which was to be through Hayes Sound, 

 but in the end we did not get much beyond Cape Eutherford. 

 The cold increased so suddenly that we were obliged to return ; 

 and as we feared that we should not be able to get the boat 

 back alongside the land, we dragged it across the Eutherford 

 isthmus. We arrived on board again, after an absence of five 

 days. 



The thermometer now fell daily, and the ice rapidly increased 

 in thickness. Our hopes were now that it would not be long 

 before we could get into Hayes Sound with sledges. In the outer 

 part of the sound, however, the ice was some little time in forming, 

 on account of the current which there is there ; and, as I did not 

 wish to wait longer, I decided to drive overland, across the glaciers, 

 to the inner part of Hayes Sound, and make an attempt to get down 

 thence into one of the inner fjords. Fosheim and Isachsen were to 

 go with me. We were particularly anxious to discover whether 

 Hayes Sound was really a sound, or only a large fjord, while, 



* Formerly called Bache Island, as it was regarded as an island. 



