68 NEW LAND. 



always hesitated and drew back. He appeared to be a little 

 afraid. I grew tired of such a waiting game, and began to stalk 

 the fox on my own account. It was only some forty yards away, 

 but all the same I wanted to get rather nearer, and after having 

 done this by degrees, I made an end of it. 



I picked up the dead animal, and, calling the puppies, started 

 back to the ship, but the little things could hardly keep up with 

 me, so there was nothing for it but to carry them. This grew 

 troublesome after a time, so I induced them to follow me by 

 dragging the fox along the ground, and as they were determined 

 to catch it, my device answered very w r ell now and again. 



As we had now full certainty for it that no more big game was 

 to be found in the valley, we began to make preparations for a trip 

 northward, with a view to capturing the necessary supply of meat 

 for the winter in other words, we prepared for what at home is 

 known as the ' autumn kill.' 



The forge was taken ashore, and Fosheim and Peder bent into 

 shape the new wooden runners for the sledges Fosheim having 

 made two pairs of oak over-runners during the autumn for screw- 

 ing on when we drove over bare land. They were about an inch 

 and a quarter in thickness, and were now put through the finishing 

 stages. 



A large proportion of our occupation at this time, however, was 

 shooting hares. The results on the whole were good, but every day 

 we found it necessary to go farther afield. Four or five men were 

 working all this time in the mountains. Nodtvedt, who was used 

 to stone-mason's work, made some pickaxes and bars, and for a 

 long time helped Schei to dislodge the fossils he was collecting. 

 They made use of the bad days to pack the stones in boxes, which 

 were then stowed away in the hold. 



The skins of the last five oxen that had been killed were 

 treated with a solution of alum. 



On the morning of September 27, Fosheim, the mate, Peder, 

 and I drove northward. We took with us only three teams, but 

 two tents a four-man and a two-man tent. This unaccustomed 

 latitude in the matter of room was in the event of our shooting so 

 many animals that some of the meat would have to be left behind ; 



