202 NEW LAND. 



hoping to reach Eice Strait through byways and lanes, and so get 

 hold of our mail, but this plan worked no better than the first, and 

 we were nipped for several hours, drifting southwards meanwhile 

 at a good pace. Towards morning we got free again, and captured 

 a few walrus. Another method which we tried several times was 

 to steam north along the Greenland side, and when we had reached 

 a sufficient height for Payer Harbour strike across westward, but 

 each time it was the same story over again we stuck fast, drifted 

 south, got free, and captured a few walrus. 



This was beginning to be a poor look-out. In such circumstances 

 it was impossible to push up through Kane Basin, and being so 

 late in the season it was hardly to be expected that any great 

 change in the ice would set in. I was very unwilling to risk 

 being beset in Kane Basin, and consequently obliged to winter 

 there, as there is very little game in the vicinity. This would 

 mean that we should probably use up all our dog-food, and a 

 favourable summer the following year if we were lucky enough 

 to have one would then be of little avail. Without being sure, 

 therefore, of a sufficiency of food for the dogs we could not embark 

 on a winter so far north with all the dogs which would be necessary 

 for driving round Greenland. 



All this was really distressing. For, first, we must give up 

 the journey round Greenland, which we had so much looked 

 forward to. Almost all our time in Eice Strait it had been the 

 great subject of conversation, and we used to make plans for the 

 journey, and think how pleasant it would be when we should 

 all meet again on the other side. 



Then, secondly, we were in despair at not being able to get our 

 letters from home. Our most desperate efforts had been fruitless. 

 There, on the island, only a few miles from us, was news from 

 home, and we could not reach the letters ! 



The night frosts, too, were beginning to set in; winter was 

 coming on apace, and a decision must soon be come to. After a 

 great deal of deliberation, we decided on Jones Sound. 



