234 NEW LAND. 



provisions, but that made no difference to our spirits ; we talked, 

 and were very cosy and comfortable, and ended up the evening by 

 spinning yarns. Isachsen declared though he alone must be 

 responsible for the statement that it was the most enjoyable 

 birthday he had ever spent. 



We had another and still greater feast when the ' boat-house ' 

 was finished. It is true we were not in a position to put up a fir- 

 tree and wreaths, as the custom is at home, when the builders get 

 the roof on a house ; but, on the other hand, owing to the com- 

 pulsorily non-alcoholic nature of our beverages, I did not risk 

 seeing a scarecrow set up on the roof one fine day in ridicule of the 

 stingy master-builder who would not stand his workmen ' drinks.' 



It was an easy matter for us to do without spirits, but we felt 

 the want of tobacco very much, and already, after the first day or 

 two, our supply gave out. A kind of moss, which I found, and 

 tried for a time, proved to be worse than nothing at all, for the taste 

 was anything but agreeable, and, once in my pipe, it seemed to last 

 for ever. 



We had done so much walking and climbing when out shooting 

 that the result was the almost total destruction of our foot-gear. 

 At this juncture some seal-skin, which I had stretched to dry on 

 the roof of the tent, came in very opportunely for cobbling 

 purposes. Stolz accomplished a masterpiece in this line, and 

 proudly declared that never before had such a difficult bit of 

 mending been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 



After October 1 the cold began to increase steadily, and the 

 ice thickened so rapidly that we fixed on October 5 as the date 

 for our departure. Isachsen and Stolz stowed away in the 

 'boat-house' everything that was to remain in Baadsfjord, and, 

 in addition to a respectable quantity of tinned food, we stored 

 three brace of hares, seventeen brace of ptarmigan, one black 

 guillemot, eight eider-ducks, four gulls, and one fox. Besides 

 all this, we left three packets of candles, fifteen gallons of paraffin, 

 and all the tackle belonging to the boat. 



Meanwhile, Fosheim and I walked across the fjord to a point 

 of land north of Baadsfjordnuten, in hopes of getting a glimpse of 

 the fjord on the other side of it. We climbed the hilly range south 



