282 NEW LAND. 



sledges. This made them very heavy, but the meat had to be got 

 back somehow or other, and we had to make up our minds to spend 

 more time on the work, if necessary. 



Grown wise from misfortune, we now hugged the shore on the 

 east side of the fjord, where we found a very passable way through 

 old ice, and when that ceased, came out on to good, hard, shining ice. 



It was a wonderful journey : the full moon in the south hung 

 over the mirror-like night landscape, which glittered and shimmered 

 under its cold beams ; while on both sides of the fjord lay the 

 land, furrowed by deep valleys and clefts, and with black 

 mysterious shadows. It was like a journey through a Paradise 

 of Frost. The dogs set off at frantic speed, and we, who sat behind, 

 felt something like Johannes Blessom when he drove with the 

 troll on Christmas night. Wild was the pace and well-fed the 

 steeds : they had been crammed to their necks every evening with 

 blubber and fish. 



The next evening we camped on the east side of Baadsfjord. 

 The weather began to look threatening, and the going had been 

 heavy the last few hours, after a mist had come on. This causes 

 a rime to form on which the sledges run about as easily as on clay. 



The day afterwards we had a strong head wind from the 

 south, and the going became so bad that the dogs could hardly 

 draw the loads, although we hauled with them as hard as we 

 could. Later in the day we came to a standstill altogether, and 

 there was nothing for it but to camp, after having made only a 

 couple of miles during the day. During the evening it began to 

 blow hard, and we lay congratulating ourselves that the rime and 

 snow would be carried away. 



Next morning we found that the wind had gone down, and in 

 calm weather and on polished ice we made such good progress that 

 in due course we were able to camp a little east of South Cape. 

 It clouded over again, however, and in the evening, when we turned 

 in, was so dark that we could not see our hands before us. 



The day afterwards things were as bad as ever. We set off a 

 little before seven in the morning, but it was so dark that we found 

 ourselves driving into icebergs and drifts, and other disagreeables of 

 the kind. It was some small comfort to know that we had daylight 



