STORMKAP. 251 



Next day, a fresh breeze blowing from the north, we went 

 westward to scan the country ; a thick veil of fog still lay over the 

 sea, but it was not so thick as on the previous day, and we could 

 see a faint outline of land on the other side of the open water. It 

 appeared to be a mountain landscape on a large scale, majestic and 

 imposing, with precipitous black walls of rock and white snow- 

 fields in the gaps. 



Our progress further west, with the ice in the condition it now 

 was, was here cut off by a steep bluff, which fell perpendicularly 

 into the sea. We therefore retraced our steps, and while the 

 others were pitching the big canvas tent and stowing the depot in 

 it, I walked westward to a point, whence I saw that the land 

 extended still farther to the west. How far it did so I could not 

 well make out, but I felt sure that, at any rate, it was a good day's 

 march to the farthest headland in sight. 



Nearly the whole of the bear-meat was put in the depot, as 

 well as its skin, with the blubber on it. The list of provisions 

 was as follows : 



4 packing cases of patent dog-food, about 400 rations. 

 2 tins of pemmican. 



1 tin of chocolate. 



1 tin of sugar. 



2 tins of potatoes. 

 2 tins of milk. 



1 packet of candles. 



5 bundles of fish. 



2 packing-cases of blubber. 



1 2J-gallon keg of petroleum. 



When everything had been stowed inside the tent, we built a 

 big wall of stones round it, door and all an undertaking which, 

 together with our other arrangements, took us the whole day. 



Next morning, October 22, we drove off again, our plan being 

 to investigate the big fjord, which cut into the land between 

 Baadsfjordnuten and Stormkap. 



The atmosphere was very thick, and we could see nothing. 

 Across the bay to Stormkap, the north wind was so violent that 



