54 NEW LAND. 



rudder, but let it hang from the winding tackle, up in the well, so 

 that it might be clear to hinge on again at any moment. 



The poor dogs were having a bad time on the ice. They 

 suffered a good deal from being tied up day after day in the 

 open air, so we began our preparations for building them some 

 kennels, though before this could be done a smithy had to be put 

 up. This we started on September 13, and so quickly went the 

 work, that before evening the walls of sawn marble-like blocks of 

 ice were already up. The following day we intended to move in 

 the forge and anvil, and complete the ice-palace with doors and a 

 roof of wood. 



True it was that there still remained a considerable quantity 

 of open water both in the north-west and towards the east, but the 

 steady cold, 10 to 7 Fahr. (-12 to -14 Cent.), had laid fairly 

 thick ice on all the lanes and pools. Some movement of the ice, 

 however,, had been noticeable all day, and when, later in the evening, 

 the wind freshened to a fairly stiff breeze from the south, it began 

 to be less quiet around us, though the wind was still choppy and 

 without steadiness. During the night the breeze increased to a 

 whole gale, but in the form of squalls, and September 14 dawned 

 with strong wind from the south-west, fog, and heavy snow. 



About noon, as we were busily engaged putting the roof on 

 the forge, we suddenly became aware that a big lane was opening 

 out due north and south, four or five hundred yards west of us. 

 About four in the afternoon the lane began to close again, and 

 when the weather cleared later in the evening, we saw that we 

 had drifted far from land. There was much open water about 

 among the ice, but the ' Frani ' lay fast by a big floe. 



On Saturday, September 15, the situation was, on the whole, 

 unaltered. The strong south-west wind went round to the north- 

 east. It still snowed and was still thick ; and the barometer had 

 every show of right when it fell rapidly, for the weather was 

 anything but fine. 



Peder and Isachsen had just begun on a series of temperatures, 

 and nothing denoted that anything extraordinary might be ex- 

 pected, but suddenly it was remarked up on deck that the ice was 

 beginning to move, and every now and then a gentle lapping about 



