192 . NEW LAND. 



two and a half in height, and three in width. It was built of 

 largish stones, and was much more solid in construction than 

 Eskimo buildings usually are. The walls at both ends were in a 

 very bad state of preservation ; and of one of them there was left 

 hardly any trace that stones had once covered the opening. 



At all these places where we found ruins, we also found 

 numbers of bones of different animals bears, whales, walrus, and 

 the various kinds of seal which frequent these waters. We saw, 

 too, reindeer antlers and several objects made from them. 



I have the impression, on the whole, that at the time when 

 Ellesmere Land was inhabited by Eskimo, the reindeer appeared 

 here in no inconsiderable numbers, for we came across their antlers 

 wherever we went. I am quite certain, however, that there were 

 no reindeer in that part of the country during our sojourn there, 

 for we went about so much that we must have come across either 

 the animals themselves or their tracks. 



While our investigations were going on, the fine weather came 

 to an end ; a south wind began to blow, bringing with it rain and 

 sleet. It sprang up so suddenly that before we knew what had 

 happened, Eice Strait was full of ice, and we thought we had better 

 wait a while before starting to row back to the ship. We waited 

 from eleven at night to four in the morning in a mountain cleft, 

 where there was some shelter from the wind, in spite of which, 

 however, it was no easy matter to keep warm. We made coffee 

 once and we made coffee twice ; we smoked tobacco and we chewed 

 tobacco with such recklessness that we had to forego it all the 

 rest of the month but we were cold despite of all. 



Once in the boat, we sped northwards through the strait, 

 with a gale and heavy sea behind us. We had to keep a sharp 

 look-out not to get the boat into trouble, so close was the ice 

 around us ; the hummocks came drifting up and along like steam- 

 engines. 



When we reached the Tram,' she was lying moored by the 

 stern, with the southerly gale howling round her, and I was 

 surprised to find no cases of sea-sickness on board. Things went 

 011 like this for several days. 



The day after our return I tried to reach Cape Eutherford in a 



