TO GAASEFJORD. 69 



in such a case one man would remain to guard it, and would 

 consequently require the two-man tent. 



We drove up the valley, passed the watershed, and late in the 

 afternoon encamped a little way west of it. This seemed to be 

 splendid big-game country, and we decided to try our luck at once. 

 Fosheim and the mate went off south-westward, through the valley ; 

 Peder and I northward. 



Better ground for polar oxen it would be difficult to find. 

 Grassy plains stretched on both sides of the valley wherever we 

 looked, but of game there was not a trace. After walking for an 

 unconscionable length of time, Peder and I eventually came down 

 to a lake, which must have been a good mile in length. We gave 

 it the name of ' Storsjoen,' or ' Great Lake.' Across this we 

 tramped, and ascended a small height in its vicinity. From here, 

 too, we saw large grassy stretches, but not a trace of any animal. 



When the two parties met in the tent that evening we learned 

 that our comrades had had no better sport than ourselves, and we 

 saw that if we were to hope for success we must go farther afield. 



The day afterwards we accordingly drove across our lake of the 

 previous day, and continued northward across the grassy land. 

 The country was flat, of inconsiderable height above the sea not 

 very many feet and was dotted with pools and small tarns. It 

 appeared to be a great place for geese. 



About five miles north of the lake we descended to the coast 

 again. The sea-ice had just formed, and was not very strong, and 

 for this reason progress on it was rather slow. We therefore kept 

 along the shore, on the ice-foot whenever there was one, and only 

 took to the sea-ice by way of a short cut when it was necessary to 

 cross bays and creeks. This suited our purpose just as well, for 

 land animals were what we wanted, and we had nothing particular 

 to do out on the sea-ice. 



We made small excursions up from the ice-foot to points 

 whence we thought we might get a view, and scanned the country 

 unremittingly, but not a trace of polar oxen did we see, although 

 we came across the tracks of hares and ptarmigan in numbers ; 

 and also of foxes, particularly on the ice-foot. 



During the course of the afternoon one of the steel plates 



