14 NEW LAXD. 



When Bay heard this he at once made up his mind to go out and 

 dredge, which he accordingly did the day afterwards, and I went 

 with him ; but the chief result was the certain discovery that the 

 bottom was unsuitable for dredging purposes. 



The party from the west told us that it was far more summer- 

 like there than in Hvalrosfjord. We had had a bad-weather 

 relapse in our part of the country. It was chilly, and there had 

 been several recent falls of snow, though this, of course, was not 

 serious in itself, as it was early in the year, and we might still 

 hope for a fine summer. On June 22 Simmons, with Olsen, went 

 into Sydkapfjord to botanize, but they returned a couple of days 

 later, which was sooner than Simmons intended, having done very 

 little. There was still a great deal of snow in the fjord, and even 

 where it had vanished they could discern hardly a trace of vegeta- 

 tion. Sydkapfjord, according to our experience, was one of the 

 most barren fjords on the whole south side of the country. 



At first, after their return, Baumann and Isachsen were 

 occupied in working out some of their observations, a lengthy 

 business, which, if it is to be of any use, must be done with the 

 greatest accuracy. 



In addition to his observations, Baumann had also the year's 

 consumption of victuals to make out. To our joy it proved that 

 we had used considerably less of the various food stuffs than the 

 previous year, and in this respect we were therefore quite on the 

 safe side. But Baumann's work did not end here. First and 

 foremost were the magnetic observations, which were an important 

 duty on fine days ; new sails for the main rigging had also to be 

 made, ready for use in the autumn, when we should go out to 

 Jones Sound. Baumann undertook to draw and cut them out, 

 and afterwards helped the mate to sew them. 



It is at this time of the year that the seals begin to bask on the 

 ice. We tried a shot at them now and again out on the fjords, and 

 had very fair luck, so that, apart from the meat we had still 

 remaining from the winter, we soon acquired a good supply of 

 fresh meat for the dogs, and quite sufficient to last through the 

 summer. 



Simmons had long talked of a botanizing trip he wished to 



