312 NEW LAND. 



inwards. Some way up Sandspollen we reached latish in the 

 afternoon the edge of the fast ice, which stretched right across the 

 mouth of the fjord to the south side of the bay. There was nothing 

 for it now but to hibernate, and so we found a snug camping- 

 place, just below some small lakes, where the birds were splashing 

 to their hearts' content. 



It had been our intention to drag our baggage up the fjord, but 

 a sledging-trip on the ice with such a gale blowing straight out- 

 wards was much too risky an undertaking. The mass might drift 

 off at any minute, and a sojourn on it would not be pleasant ; for 

 the first few miles, therefore, where the danger was greatest, we 

 decided to keep to the ice-foot. 



We were sitting at our breakfast in the tent next morning 

 before setting off, the gale beating so at the canvas that we could 

 hardly hear each other's voices, when suddenly its noise was 

 drowned by a terrific clatter outside. We rushed incontinently 

 to the door we knew it was the boat. The storm had flung the 

 heavy, water-logged elm boat along the beach and left it there 

 keel upwards ! We moored it thoroughly, put some stones on the 

 top, drank up our coffee in haste, and set off on our march inwards 

 along the ice-foot. But trudging along with the load across the 

 countless cracks and fissures of the ice-foot, with the wind right 

 in our teeth, was a slow business. The downpour of the last two 

 days ceased in the evening, and we were able to dry our clothes 

 outside the tent, in the lee of a steep crag of rock. 



We were not a little surprised when we came out in the 

 morning to see that we were again close by the edge of the fjord- 

 ice. The violent west wind in the course of the night had actually 

 driven the whole mass of the ice east of us far out to sea. While 

 Schei ransacked the talus we went back to fetch the boat, and 

 rowed it inwards. We were rather afraid we might drift out 

 to sea during this operation, but the wind had gone round to 

 the north, and was now off shore. Luckily for us, it was low 

 water, and close under the high ice-foot we found the lee we 

 required. 



We sailed in fine weather straight across the fjord, and landed 

 early in the afternoon on a point which we called ' Baadodden,' or 



