234 NEW LAXD. 



mistaking it. It was a polar ox which had winded Schei, and 

 now came sniffing up towards him. 



Schei, deep in his own reflections, was unsuspectingly 

 scrambling and crawling down in the hollow below. I shouted 

 to him to look out, as a big polar ox was stalking him, and he 

 changed his course and climbed to where I was. 



As we had no wish to shoot the ox, we tried to steal past it ; 

 but it was so choleric and determined to fight that we found it 

 impossible to do this. It took up its position on a little edge, 

 a little way above us, and began to sharpen its horns and work 

 itself up into a towering rage. Schei at once took advantage of 

 the occasion, and produced his camera. It is a pity that these 

 animals never ' come out well ' in a photograph ; they really look 

 like nothing but a patch of wool. 



As we were the wiser party, and wished to avoid an embroil- 

 ment, there was nothing for it but to go back the same way we 

 had come and try an ascent farther down the valley ; and in the 

 end we managed to reach the knoll we had originally been making 

 for unseen by the ox. 



From this point we had a grand panoramic view over the 

 beautiful fjord, with its countless bays and inlets. On its west 

 side were three short bits of glacier falling abruptly down to 

 the bottom of the valley, which continued inwards in the same 

 direction for about seventeen miles, but after that turned rather 

 more to the north. At the bend a large valley, encircled by high 

 mountains, cut into the land to the west. A little south of the 

 mouth of the valley a glacier snout protruded towards a big stretch 

 of sands, and immediately north of the glacier, running straight 

 up, we saw a very sharp and narrow valley. 



Several icebergs inside the fjord, some of them fairly large, 

 seemed to point to a largish glacier at the head of it. It proved 

 later, however, that our surmise was incorrect. 



In the same high wind, and on snow that was splendid going, 

 we started next day up the fjord. We happened to pull up for a 

 minute as we were driving across a big bay, where a largish ice- 

 berg was lying well anchored, and we then saw that a wolf was 

 trotting after us. We overturned at once, before the dogs had 



