166 NEW LAND. 



before we can go on; nor have we any good news to bring our 

 comrades on board ; we shall be there time enough. Svendsen 

 was a great favourite with us all, and I know this will be a heavy 

 blow to the fellows on the " Fram." ' 



Monday and Tuesday were spent in preparations for the 

 journey. The doctor's body was sewn up in sailcloth for transport 

 to the ship. The loads had grown so big that part of the depot 

 had now to be left behind. 



On Wednesday morning at two o'clock we broke up, and later 

 in the forenoon pitched the tent at our old camping-ground on the 

 west side of Alexandra Fjord. Here, too, the fine weather of the 

 last few days had awakened nature out of her sleep, as it were, at 

 a single stroke. The sun now shone warm and clear. Plains and 

 slopes smiled their greeting to us under their many-hued covering 

 of flowers. Ice-water streamed in the brooks, and rushed in 

 torrents over the precipices. Near the tent a covey of ptarmigan 

 were walking about, and from the hillside we heard the cry of 

 the cock ; while out on the ice the seals stretched themselves in 

 enjoyment of the warmth, and the long-tailed ducks splashed 

 about in the leads. Nowhere does one notice the magic power of 

 the sun as in the polar regions ; it creates summer in the space of 

 a few days, as we had occasion to remark all the way we went. 



The heat inside the tent was almost unendurable. We tried 

 lying outside the bags, but it was too warm. Then we stripped, 

 garment by garment, till we were almost naked, but even then we 

 could hardly bear it. It was the hottest day I have ever spent 

 under canvas. 



At a little past midnight we drove on again. The temperature 

 was now such that the water on the ice was as high by night 

 as by day, and so for that matter we could have driven at 

 what time we liked, but the nights were cooler, and the dogs 

 consequently more willing to work. We took to the old drift-ice 

 out on the fjord, and made our way as best we could with the 

 doctor's body through deep and loose snow. At the worst places 

 we lent a hand at the hauling, as great care was necessary in 

 order not to upset the sledges. 



We arrived on board on June 15, at ten in the forenoon. The 



