242 NEW LAND. 



hauled as if they meant to go to the world's end ; and in a way 

 that was just where they were going, only it was a pity the ice 

 was so bad. Outside Sydkapfjord, however, it improved. There 

 we pitched our tent, but a little east of the former camping-ground, 

 as I did not care for the idea of being under the perpendicular bluff, 

 where we were exposed to falling rock and stones at any minute. 

 We saw no bear-tracks the whole day, and only one seal, which 

 was lying on the ice. 



The inner tent, which we now tried for the first time, was 

 made of thinnish cotton lining material, for we had nothing else 

 that we could use. The ridge of the roof was so low that there 

 was a space of about a foot in height between the two tents, and 

 we hoped that the intermediate air would prove to be a non- 

 conductor. The space between the vertical walls was calculated 

 to be from three to four inches, if nothing pressed them closer 

 together. 



We were greatly astonished at the effect of the double walls 

 when we tried the tent the first evening. No sooner were we all 

 inside, and the ' Primus ' burning, than we had to drag off our outer 

 clothing and sit in our shirt-sleeves. This was something quite 

 new to us, for we had never had such warmth in the travelling 

 tents before. Baumann and Stolz, who had their old single silk 

 tent, were as cold as ever, and we felt obliged to ask them to 

 supper, and gave them a standing invitation to our meals for as 

 long as we camped together. 



A fairly heavy fall of snow during the night made the next 

 day's march to the little sandbank about half-way between South 

 Cape and Baadsfjord a rather tiring one. The ice, however, had 

 lain undisturbed since our last visit ; the lanes, which had then 

 given us so much trouble, were now frozen over, and the ice was 

 everywhere safe. 



Next day we had the same thick weather, and going that was 

 worse than ever. We reached the mouth of Baadsfjord at dusk, 

 after having toiled our way along step by step, and turned our 

 faces up the fjord. But bad as the going had been before, it was 

 worse now; even when we hauled as hard as we could, together 

 with the team, it was as much as we could do to move the sledges. 



