SUMMER JOURNEYS AND FERTILITY. 11 



Progress up the valley was exceedingly slow; in many places 

 there was not enough snow, and the streams were so swollen that 

 frequently they could only be crossed with difficulty. The courses 

 of the streams were the places where there \vas most snow, and 

 up these they were obliged to drive for long distances together. 

 In the end, however, they got across the neck of land and down to 

 the sea-ice on the north side, and this they followed till they 

 reached Land's End. 



Soon after they had passed the watershed they observed two 

 polar oxen on a slope some distance away. It was their intention 

 to pass them without an attempt at pursuit, as time did not 

 allow of any digressions ; but my dogs, which Fosheim had 

 with him as a loose team, got scent of the animals, and became 

 perfectly unmanageable. Away they ran, up the hillside, as hard 

 as they could go, and although the men tried to call them in, it 

 was absolutely in vain. There was nothing for it they were 

 obliged to shoot both animals before they could continue the 

 journey. 



They saw no traces of Isachsen and Hassel. At Land's End 

 they built a cairn, and placed under it another description and 

 sketch-map of the way across the mountains, and then settled 

 down for the night. They had no bag with them, and the weather 

 grew very bad, rain and sleet falling alternately. 



While they were cooking supper they noticed a bear down by 

 the crack which was inquisitively watching their movements, 

 wondering apparently what kind of animals they could be. It 

 moved from hummock to hummock, stood up on its hind-legs to 

 get a better view, while its body rocked backwards and forwards, 

 and its neck was outstretched as it sniffed the air and wriggled 

 its nose from side to side ; but it advanced no nearer, and the dogs 

 did not wind it. Baumann and Fosheim were very glad when it 

 slunk off, after a while, for they had a superabundance of meat 

 and few cartridges left, indeed, not more than five or six altogether. 



Next day they started homewards. The going on the sea-ice 

 was about as before; but bad as progress had been overland 

 when they drove north, it was now ten times worse. Except in 

 the river-beds there was no snow whatever, and in them the 



