NEW LAND! 137 



were, as particles of ice collect at or under the root of the nail, 

 resulting at once in large open cracks in their paws. 



The land in the distance near the point also appeared to offer 

 some chance of game, and if we found oxen there I intended to 

 take the opportunity of making a meat depot. 



A little way out on the ice \vas an enormous pressure-ridge 

 stretching right across the fjord. The ice was coarse, so that 

 evidently violent forces had been at work here. The causes of its 

 upheaval may have been various ; but judging from appearances, 

 and also, perhaps, because the wish was father to the thought, we, 

 at any rate, favoured the theory of a violent current acting on 

 the ice here, and were of opinion consequently that there must 

 be a sound somewhere or other to the north. 



This supposition was strengthened by the absence of any old 

 crack. These colossal ice-walls, which are built up on the shore, 

 lie for a considerably longer period than the fjord-ice, and the fact 

 that we were unable to discover any crack from the previous 

 summer was a sure sign that the fjord had been absolutely free of 

 ice the year before. This circumstance had direct consequences 

 for us, as we had to use snow for cooking purposes instead of old 

 ice from the crack, of which we usually found enough and to spare. 



Later on we saw several more pressure-ridges, all running in 

 parallel lines straight across the. ice, at intervals of one to two miles. 



Living creatures had been here before us, it appeared. There 

 was certain evidence of this in all the bear-tracks along the 

 pressed-up ice. Backwards and forwards, intersecting one another 

 in all directions, were the tracks of many animals. 



The going was so slippery that, although the dogs were footsore, 

 we made fair progress, and latish in the afternoon reached the 

 point. My idea was to scan for game in the bay there was a pretty 

 little sheltered creek there but just as I was stopping one of my 

 companions asked me to drive on a few sledge-lengths, so as to get 

 a view of the bay. This I did, and no sooner had we reached the 

 point which sheltered the creek than I saw two oxen on a 

 precipice on the farther side. The oxen discovered us at the same 

 moment, stood still a few minutes to gaze, and then retired slowly 

 up the cliffs towards a gap in the hillside. 



