32 NEW LAND. 



our field of labour extended to a greater distance from the ship, 

 our force had to be increased. As a rule we were four in the boat, 

 Olsen or Nodtvedt taking turns as fourth man. Later on, Isachsen 

 also came with us, when he had finished his magnetic observations 

 about the end of July. Every one was anxious to take part in 

 these excursions, for they brought a certain amount of change into 

 our existence, and we were all eager to discover new forms of 

 animal life. 



' By degrees as the ice thawed ' we had indeed ample oppor- 

 tunity at this time of noticing how the ice was disappearing. 

 Masses of it would drift up the sound with the tide, to the inner 

 part of the fjord, but once inside it they vanished into thin air ; 

 only a dilapidated hummock drifting out now and again, sorry 

 indeed in plight. One or two small icebergs had also strayed 

 in, and drifted backwards and forwards; they were well tossed 

 about in here, although it was not the open sea, and one or other 

 of them was always capsizing. 



The fjord itself was almost entirely free of ice now. At the 

 outer part of both sounds there was still a fast margin, but fragment 

 after fragment came away from it and drifted inwards with the 

 tide, so that even its days were numbered. 



On the floes floating about in the fjord the bearded seals lay 

 sunning themselves. We generally brought two or three back 

 with us every evening, shot by Bay or Peder when they were lying 

 near at hand and their capture was not likely to take us a long 

 time. 



They were glorious days, those ! We started off directly after 

 breakfast, provided with food and the 'Primus,' and stayed 

 out the whole day. At dinner-time we would go ashore to 

 cook our food, and lie about afterwards, thoroughly enjoying our- 

 selves, while we smoked our pipes before getting into the boat 

 again. 



One day we landed on some rocks just abreast of Skreia. A 

 great number of terns had their nests there, and as it was late in 

 the season the young ones were hatched and were sitting about in 

 the clefts of the rocks. Long will it be before I forget the reception 

 we had ! The whole flight of terns came rushing through the air, 



