TOWARDS THE NORTH! 403 



The next morning we resolved to keep on driving till late, in 

 order to reach the other side of the bay by evening. A thick 

 layer of loose snow on the top of old drifted snow, which also at 

 places was so loose that it would not bear the dogs, in addition to 

 old ice the whole of the way, grooved and rugged as it almost 

 always is, up hill and down hill the entire distance across the bay 

 these were the pleasing prospects of the day. 



About noon, however, a fresh breeze from the north swept 

 away all the loose snow from the ice-hills, though this only made 

 the cracks and fissures the worse. On the whole, however, we 

 went more quickly now than we had done for some time, for the 

 dogs were able to rest on the tops of the hills where the loose snow 

 had been blown away. 



The wind had somewhat cleared the atmosphere, so that now 

 we could again see a glimpse of the country and form some idea 

 of what it looked like. From the inner part of the wide bay three 

 fjord-arms extended inland. This latter was for the most part 

 rather high ; but between the depressions were pretty sheltered 

 valleys, which seemed as if they might be the abode of a great 

 deal of game. A couple of days previously we had seen the tracks 

 of two reindeer, which had crossed the ice from the west, and had 

 gone up on land. The animals themselves we saw nothing of, 

 and the tracks were not so very fresh; they were possibly of 

 animals which were on their way from the islands in the west to 

 their summer pasturage, and would probably return in the autumn. 



It was late in the evening before we had got so far that we 

 could pitch our tent on the north side of the bay, close under the 

 ice-foot, at a place which provided a little shelter from the wind. 

 We drove that day nearly fourteen miles. 



Here we came to a conclusion which had long lain dormant ; 

 which was to give up all further attempt to penetrate northward, 

 and to turn back. An important reason for returning was the 

 condition of the dogs, which now began to be serious; they 

 became thinner day by day, and their strength failed noticeably. 

 There was no extra food to be had, and in the state the weather 

 and going now were, it was impossible to tell how long they might 

 be able to endure these hardships. 



VOL. i. 2 D 2 



