CHAPTER XXIV. 



ISACHSEN AND HASSEL's JOURNEY, SPRING, 1901. 



ON April 8, Easter Monday, all the sledge-parties drove northward 

 together through Gaasedalen to Storsjoen. From there Isachsen 

 and Hassel followed the Nbrdstrand river, and went down on to 

 the sea-ice with a course for the northern extremity of Graham 

 Island. Their loads were light, and they made quick progress, the 

 greater part of the dog-food for the trip having been deposited at 

 Cape South- West in the month of March. Graham Island, how- 

 ever, hid itself so well in the mist that they did not see a glimpse 

 of it. 



On April 13 they reached Cape South-West, and discovered 

 that the depot had already been inspected. The cached dog-food 

 had been dug out, and the sacks flung to all sides. A vigorous 

 blow had sent a cask containing eight or ten gallons of paraffin 

 right down to the ice-foot. Nevertheless, very little dog-food was 

 missing, and Isachsen was of opinion that the guests had been 

 polar oxen. 



On April 14 they left Cape South-West with loads of about 

 550 Ibs. on each sledge. The ice was uneven, and the sledges 

 often ran their noses fast in the big drifts. They saw nothing of 

 their surroundings, but on April 17 they concluded, by the appear- 

 ance of the ice and the fragments of plants which they found, that 

 land was not far away. Soon the incline was against them, and 

 they stood on the new land. For two days wind and weather 

 kept them under arrest ; but this did not come amiss, for Hassel 

 had pierced his hand with a marline-spike, the wound had festered, 

 and it was now at its worst. 



On April 20 they went on again. Above the wide lowland 



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