122 XEW LAND. 



oxen. The animals, meanwhile, moved in such a manner that it 

 was impossible to get down the slope to within range unseen, but 

 we thought that the distance was so great that they would not 

 distinguish us up among the stones, particularly as our clothes were 

 of the same grey colour. We therefore went boldly down, but we 

 counted without our host they saw us directly, and began to 

 show signs of uneasiness. And now began a regular stalk ; 

 from bouldered slope to plain, from sand-hill to sand-hill, 

 with the result that when dusk came on, we had not once got 

 within range, so cunning were the animals, and so well did they 

 understand how to keep at a suitable distance without actually 

 taking flight. It was a mixture of defiance and caution which was 

 absolutely exasperating. Worn out and sick of the whole thing, 

 there was nothing for it but to give up the chase, and think about 

 returning home. 



On our way back, we were obliged to climb the mountain- side 

 again, to fetch the hares which we had left lying all together in 

 one spot, and in so doing expended a good deal of bad language 

 inwardly, if not out loud, on the innocent animals whose only fault 

 lay in their being so big and fat and heavy to carry. ' The Arctic 

 hare is a giant animal/ says Professor Collett, and he is right a 

 thousand times right ! 



When we reached camp* we set to work to skin the hares 

 before they were frozen hard, and afterwards had hare soup for 

 supper. Fatter hares I never saw ; there was half an inch of fat 

 on the soup. 



Our chances of progress overland looked very unpromising, for 

 there was no snow. The snowfall, apparently, is inconsider- 

 able so far up the fjords, and as evaporation is great, and this 

 is a country where there is always blowing what we call 

 a ' cow-storm ' (a gale so strong that it blows the horns off the 

 cows), all the snow had disappeared. However, I still meant to 

 reach the west coast, and thought it might be done with two teams 

 of dogs. It was decided that Isachsen and Hassel should tri- 

 angulate from the end of the fjord seawards as far as the ' Fram,' 

 the mate fetch Stolz from Fort Juliana, and Bay and I make the 

 attempt to reach the west coast. 



