28 NEW LAND. 



lay at anchor in the land-channel. We then put a warp to the 

 edge of the fast ice, heaved anchor, towed her farther out, and 

 dropped anchor again close by the edge of it. We did this because 

 we thought we had been lying too near land, and had too 

 little chain out ; several times the ice had pressed us farther in. 



Again this year the thaw in where we were lying took place 

 with marvellous rapidity. The day after the last sledge-party 

 came aboard, the narrowest part of the sound, near Skreia, was free 

 of ice, and the channel ate its way rapidly up the fjord. On 



A MORNING PIPE. 



Saturday, July 21, Schei and Simmons were able to row from the 

 ship across the sound, and some way up the fjord along the east 

 side of Skreia. The west sound, too, was open by this time, so 

 it will be seen that there was not much ice left on the fjord. 



We were now able to dredge frequently, and wherever the 

 water was ice-free the results were good. The bay, in particular, 

 in which we were lying, always repaid us. We had a fishing-net 

 with us from home, and this Baumann and the mate put in order 

 and lowered near the shore. In this manner we were lucky 

 enough to catch a few sea-scorpions, but they were so diminutive 



