224 NEW LAND. 



sprang up from the east ; we hoisted sail, and on we went like this 

 the whole of the day, between the ice and the land, with the spray 

 flying from under the bows. It was one of the most enjoyable sails 

 I ever had in my life, combining as it did the desirable conditions 

 of smooth water with a stiff breeze behind us. Nor is the element 

 of excitement wanting in this kind of sailing ; some dexterity is 

 required to wind in and out among the floes, just slipping through 

 into a new channel before they close up, and having to judge how 

 many boat's-lengths it will take one, or whether it will turn out 

 to be a blind lane. Then in the distance we see another lead and 

 make for that ; but how are we to get to it ? There, outside the 

 floe, must be the way, but we shall never get through ! Yes, after 

 all we just slip through in the nick of time ! 



We passed one perpendicular headland after another, and 

 after each one we thought we should see the land trending 

 northward; but in this we were mistaken. Westward, always 

 westward, went the coast-line as far as we could see, with high 

 bluffs and precipices falling straight down to the narrow strip 

 of shore. In the shoal water outside lay stranded hummocks the 

 whole length of the coast, and apparently it was these we had to 

 thank for the channel along shore, for they barred the way of the 

 drift-ice. We had some difficulty in navigating across the large 

 sandbanks at the mouth of the rivers, but in the bays there was 

 still open water. 



Many eider-ducks, with their broods, swam past us, and now 

 and then we lowered sail and shot a few. 



Meanwhile, the snow on the land grew less and less the further 

 west we went, and we rejoiced at getting into drier regions. 

 Where we were now sailing, we saw the bottom at one or two 

 fathoms; a quantity of seaweed was growing on it, but neither 

 then nor afterwards did we attempt to dredge at this spot, for the 

 navigation was too difficult. 



At nine in the evening we pitched the tent on bare land not 

 far from a small river. 



While my companions were getting under way the next 

 morning, I went and had a look round. There was hardly a plant 

 to be seen ; and the only signs of game were the tracks of a few 



