340 NEW LAND. 



the sound were polynias, but to use a boat here would have been 

 an impossibility ; it would have been broken to pieces in a moment 

 among all the hummocks and icebergs, which were ceaselessly 

 whirling round and round, crushing everything that came in their 

 way. Nor was there a single floe to be seen out there on to which, 

 at a pinch, a boat could be dragged, everything was high and steep 

 and inaccessible ; but this is a last resort, and one not to be taken 

 advantage of until the danger is imminent and the boat threatened 

 with destruction. Even then it must not be loaded, or it will be 

 impossible to drag it up in a hurry. 



None of us had ever seen waters so absolutely impossible to 

 navigate as the sound here, and this, combined with the inde- 

 scribable difficulties we had to overcome in order to get through 

 it difficulties which could not have been surmounted without 

 splendid materials, and tough folk and dogs was the cause that 

 for a long time we never called it anything but ' the Sound,' to 

 which was invariably added an expletive more or less forcibly 

 illustrative. Later on we agreed to name it ' Hell Gate,' * or 

 ' Helvedesporten,' and, although it may be difficult to find a more 

 deterring nomenclature, it is far too weak to express our impression 

 of the place. 



Up from Hell Gate a seal thrust its head more than once, and 

 peeped cautiously after us with searching eyes. Far out among 

 the hummocks dived and splashed myriads of sea-birds, mostly 

 black guillemots, but also a certain number of larger birds ; they 

 were too far off for us to distinguish of what kind they were, but 

 probably they were eiders. Along the ice-foot the bears had had 

 their beaten track during the winter, but we saw none of them. 



To find a passable camping-place was not an easy matter, as 

 the ice about here consisted chiefly of blocks and ice-hills, the 

 latter being so aslant that it was impossible to pitch a tent on 

 any of them ; but we eventually found a fairly suitable spot on 

 the ice-foot. 



I had reason to be satisfied with our work that day. An 

 advance of thirteen miles in country like this was not badly done, 

 but with sledges and dogs and picked men, such as mine, we could 



* So given by the author. 



