CHAPTER VII. 



BEFORE THE POLAR NIGHT. 



IN the provision-hold aft we had a quantity of foodstuffs, various 

 kinds of which were required for almost daily consumption, but 

 every time the hatch was raised at the cold time of year, ice 

 formed in the holds and on the tin boxes containing the pro- 

 visions, so that each spring we had a great deal of trouble to 

 scrape it all away. In order to avoid raising the hatch oftener 

 than was absolutely necessary, we took out every autumn as much 

 as we thought sufficient for the winter, and stowed the provisions 

 in the lockers in the 'tween decks. It was at this work that 

 Hassel and Stolz were occupied just at this time. 



It was, however, not entirely on account of the ice that we did 

 this, but also in order to have the provisions more at hand in case 

 of fire. For the same reason also we used every autumn to place 

 a large amount of provisions in a more easily accessible place than 

 the main hold. 



The weather was still changeable as before, and it did not seem 

 likely that Isachsen and Schei would be able to shoot much 

 game out at the mouth of the fjord. The only tolerable weather 

 we had had was the day the mate and I had come on board with 

 Olsen, and the first part of the following one. In the afternoon 

 of that day, October 23, we had the same weather over again 

 wind from every possible quarter, one storm succeeded by another, 

 and the air so thick that we could hardly see a hand before us. 



I was exceedingly sorry that the weather was not better. It 

 had been my intention to go north again as soon as Olsen was 

 on board, in order to try to see something of the big fjords this 

 autumn. It would be of great advantage to our work in the 



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