A SAD HOME-COMING. 237 



assistance as soon as the ice would bear. It was this relief party 

 we now met. Baumann and Bay had been up on land to scan the 

 country, while Schei and Hassel remained at the camp. All four 

 had their teams, and they had also brought my dogs as a loose 

 team. The meeting caused mutual pleasure, for they had begun 

 to be anxious about us on board, on account of our long absence. 



But it was on board that things had gone wrong. I saw at 

 once from their faces that something serious had happened, and 

 they were not long in telling us what it was. Braskerud was dead. 



Like several of the others, he had caught a very bad cold in 

 Jones Sound, and had been ill a fortnight with a cough and great 

 difficulty in breathing, but had suffered no pain. It was impossible 

 to do anything to relieve him ; the doctor was dead, and nobody 

 understood the real nature of his illness. He had kept his bed 

 the last three or four days, but no one, still less himself, thought 

 the end was so near. 



Braskerud was a thoroughly good fellow, and we were all very 

 fond of him. He had many interests outside his duties, and was 

 particularly keen on forestry. Only a couple of days before his 

 death, when he was lying in his berth suffering from great weakness, 

 he heard two of his companions discussing his favourite subject. 

 When he could stand it no longer, he called out : ' Wait a 

 bit, wait a bit. I am coming too ! ' and, throwing on some 

 clothing, he joined them on the sofa, where he took an eager part 

 in the discussion. Two days later he died. 



To a certain extent, Braskerud's death made a greater impression 

 on many of the members of the expedition than even that of the 

 doctor, and it caused still greater depression among us. 



Winter was before us, the doctor dead, Braskerud dead, Peder 

 still ill and in his berth, and Nodtvedt ailing we had fallen on evil 

 days. And the oncoming polar night, with its cold and its crushing 

 darkness, did not tend to make us see things in a brighter light ; 

 particularly as, since the doctor's death, we had felt powerless 

 against every sickness. It was not long before there were veiy 

 few of us who did not imagine that something or other was the 

 matter with him. 



Baumann and Bay took us to their camping-ground under the 



