CHAPTER XXL 



FUGLEFJORD. 



NEXT day we drove inwards up Eidsfjord, as Schei wished to 

 examine it, and we had also to fetch the box of dog-food we 

 had left behind there. The snow was terrible going. There had 

 been a heavy fall in the night, and the fresh snow was so loose and 

 sticky that it was quite impossible to use our ' ski.' The snow 

 balled underneath them in a long, large lump, though the German 

 silver, on the other hand, ran pretty freely. We ploughed on 

 inwards, nevertheless, and late in the day camped on the high 

 river bank where the box was lying. The camping-place was not 

 first-rate; wherever we turned there was nothing but clay; but 

 we had to take things as they came, there was no choice. 



Schei brought the boulders to the hammer, and was up among 

 them the whole day long. Shortly before his return in the evening 

 it began to snow hard, and next day the weather was so rough that 

 we thought it wisest to remain where we were. What a sight was 

 outside the tent door ! The whole camping-ground was a gruel of 

 clay and slush, for the weather was so mild that the snow melted 

 on the bank. 



Next day we made but poor progress at first, though the snow 

 improved little by little as we went outwards along Eidsfjord. 

 We decided to drive up Tuglefjord' (Bird Fjord), whence we 

 hoped to be able to reach the glaciers overland ; and we camped 

 on bare shingle on a low isthmus, between the mainland and 

 the 'peninsula protruding southwards towards 'Fugleb'en' (Bird 

 Island). We were not the first who had fancied the isthmus as 

 a camping-place ; there were several old tent-rings there. 



As soon as the camp was in order, Schei went a short excursion 



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