A DESERTED COUNTRY. 69 



our lungs, time after time, and at last received an answer : it 

 was the mate with all the caravan. 



As we had thought, they had been delayed by the bad weather. 

 The snowstorm had prevented them from leaving the ' Fram ' at the 

 appointed time, and when, at last, they had been able to start, the 

 weight of the heavy fall of snow had so sunk the young ice that 

 water was standing a foot deep on it. They had been splashing 

 and wading in slush all the way, and in many places had been 

 obliged to make long detours round open leads, which had formed 

 in places where the ice was too weak to resist the weight of the 

 snow. They had suffered no little hardship, but their spirits were 

 good, and both they and we were glad to have met with one 

 another. 



We pitched our tent at our old camping-ground, near Alexandra 

 Fjord, and had a very comfortable evening. It is true that the 

 tent was of the very smallest proportions, but, as we say in Norway, 

 ' where there is heart-room there is house-room,' and we had 

 enough of both. 



We went back to Fort Juliana on the following day, and the 

 ' Fram ' folk were received with great hospitality. They were all 

 wet through up to their knees when they got there one could 

 wring the water out of their stockings and now it was turning 

 fine again, with some twenty-four degrees below zero ! Not one 

 of them had proper clothing, and I had great doubts about the 

 advisability of letting them go on to Beitstadfjord to fetch the 

 meat. But they declared that they should be all right, and as 

 they were very anxious to go, I at last gave my consent, but 

 kept Nodtvedt to accompany Schei and me up a valley where 

 there were fossils, of which Schei was anxious to get specimens 

 to send on board. The fall of snow, however, had been so 

 great that we could not find the stones, and we had to return 

 without accomplishing our task. 



On Monday, October 24, the ' Fram ' folk came back with the 

 meat from Beitstadfjord ; they had not been able to bring all of it, 

 but Isachsen, Bay, and Fosheim, who still remained behind, had 

 promised to bring the rest. 



The following day we all left Fort Juliana, and started on 



