

BOATING EXPEDITIONS IN HAVNEFJORD. 225 



ptarmigan. The favourable wind of the previous day had gone 

 down, and we had to take to the oars again, with a course for 

 the westernmost headland of the fjord, which we afterwards named 

 ' Baadsfjordnuten ' (Boat Fjord Peak). In mid-fjord a breeze from 

 the west sprang up, so we set sail and stood, close-hauled, up the 

 fjord, to get a closer view of the peak. It appeared to be situated 

 on an island, and it was worth while to find this out for certain. 



Along the west side of the fjord was a strip of ice, which pre- 

 vented us from landing, and after a couple of vain attempts to do 

 so by pushing and punting a way through with the boat-hooks, we 

 landed on the east side. We saw from there that Baadsfjordnuten 

 did not lie on an island, but on a peninsula, which was joined to 

 the mainland by a low isthmus. 



Our voyage was soon brought to a temporary standstill. The 

 drift-ice which was moving up the fjord proved to be too much 

 for us, and we were compelled to camp ; to find next morning that 

 the whole fjord was thickly packed with drifting ice. 



The following day, September 11, there was a slack southerly 

 breeze, with snow ; and as the autumn was so far advanced that 

 we might expect the sea to freeze any day, we decided not to con- 

 tinue farther west, but to turn back, and get home as quickly as 

 possible that is to say, when the ice should have slackened 

 enough to allow of it. 



We pitched our big canvas tent from Fort Juliana on the 

 beach, and carried the dog-food up to it, as well as all the other 

 things composing our depot, so that we should be ready to turn 

 back the next day, if the ice meantime was accommodating 

 enough to drift out of the fjord. We spent the whole day on this 

 bit of work. 



Next morning, at four o'clock, we turned out, ready to set our 

 course eastwards. The fjord was free of drift-ice, but was 

 covered by a layer of snow and slush, several inches thick, 

 through which it was very difficult to row the boat. It was 

 still worse when we got outside, and met the masses of drifting 

 ice, which lay close together, with a thick layer of slush between 

 them, all the way eastwards. As it was impossible to make any 

 way, we chose the wiser course of turning back and waiting for an 



VOL. I. Q 



