CHAPTER XXVI. 



STORM KAP. 



THE next day, October 18, we continued our way westward, the 

 going being still bad. Later in the day the weather cleared, and in 

 front of us, towards the north, a fairly broad fjord opened out to 

 view, which seemed to cut far into the land. 



The burning question of the day was whether there were big 

 game in it or not. Hitherto we had seen nothing which could point 

 to the existence at the present time of polar oxen in this part of 

 the country, but this fjord, with its beautiful large valleys, looked 

 so inviting and promising that we had every hope of finding some 

 there. We set our course towards a high point west of the fjord 

 which had the appearance of an island, but which later proved to 

 be connected with the mainland by some low ground. Later on 

 we named the place ' Stormkap,' or ' Cape Storm.' Near Storm- 

 kap we passed several lanes, and saw a very decided water-sky 

 in the west. 



We had several times made quite remarkable observations with 

 regard to the slipperiness of the snow, and the respective gliding 

 qualities of tin and German-silver on it, but never so markedly as 

 to-day. We all had German-silver over-runners to our sledges, 

 except Schei, whose sledge was shod with plates of tin. The 

 whole way along Baadsfjord Schei was always behind, and we had 

 to wait for him several times. But when we were nearing Storm- 

 kap we found it necessary to drive on some newly frozen lanes for 

 some time to avoid the old ice which so greatly impedes progress, 

 and then the sledges with the German-silver plates became so 

 heavy that the dogs had to drag the loads along step by step. 

 Schei's sledge now ran so lightly that it seemed as if his dogs had 



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