398 NEW LAND. 



morning and the weather as bad as ever, we decided to remain 

 quiet for a day. 



We had not been able to drive more than eleven or twelve 

 miles in the day the last few days, although we had kept hard at 

 it, almost without a break, from a quarter to eight in the morning 

 to about five in the afternoon. 



On April 29 and Monday the 30th, we were weatherbound, and 

 if it was absolutely necessary we should have a storm, it was just 

 as well that it should occur at the same time as other hindrances. 

 I think we had a right to grumble a little just now ; we had bad 

 weather and bad going without ceasing, and for this reason it 

 seemed as if we were unlikely to reap any great reward from our 

 exertions. We had expected quite other conditions of progress, 

 and had reckoned on making our twenty to twenty-five miles a day, 

 but what we were doing was something very different from this. 

 One's calculations can be put out by a single wasted day; but 

 when one has them wholesale, as we had, all one's plans and 

 prospects are brought to naught. 



Worst of all was it for the dogs ; they fell off day by day, and 

 it was doubtful how long they would be able to hold out. Nor 

 was there any extra food to be had for them : there was no game 

 either on sea or land ; so it will be understood that they were not 

 very lively days that we spent inside the tent at this time. 



Late in the afternoon of April 30, the wind began to go down, 

 and our hopes speedily rose perhaps we could begin to drive 

 again the next day and on May 1 we really did continue our 

 journey. The weather at first was calm and misty ; later in the 

 forenoon it improved and became fairly clear. 



Before us lay a large bay, on the other side of which the land 

 was lower than we had seen it for some time ; the highest parts of 

 it consisting of rounded hills. The outermost land which we 

 could see looked like a largish island, but we dared not say 

 anything for certain ; we had been mistaken too many times here 

 on the west coast. 



We set the course for the westernmost point in sight, and 

 drove off, very curious to know what things would look like when^ 

 we should have passed it. What should we see ? Would it be 



