THE RETURN JOURNEY. 



409 



On our southward journey too we came across the tracks of 

 reindeer ; they came from the west and went inland, and were so 

 fresh that I did not think more than a couple of hours had elapsed 

 since the animals had passed by. 



We had several times thought of making a digression up one 

 of the large fjords, as the country looked as if there might be 

 game about ; but with such bad going as we now had an excursion 

 of the kind would cost us several days, and if we were unlucky 

 enough not to shoot any game, things would look serious 



indeed. We came to the conclusion, therefore, that we ought not 

 to set off on what might be a fruitless expedition, and only make 

 a digression of the kind should it prove an absolute necessity 

 later on. 



We had set ourselves to reach ' Cape Levvel ' (Cape Live-Well) 

 before May 17, and our calculations proved to be correct; on the 

 evening of May 16 we pitched our tent at the aforesaid cape. We 

 found there a short record of Isachsen and Hassel's expedition 

 westward, of which a more detailed account will be given later on. 

 They had reached Cape Levvel on April 28, and had started south 



