CHAPTER XXVIII. 



HUNTING FOR WINTER FOOD. 



WHILE we were out on our boating trip to North Devon, two 

 polar oxen were seen from the ship, grazing for several days on 

 the plains which were now due west of us. So, on the Thursday, 

 Fosheim and I got ready for a couple of days' trip, to see if 

 we could find them. Not caring to take the dogs with us, we 

 packed all our things on one sledge, and set straight across the 

 fjord. We had proof on the way of how weak the old ice was in 

 this part of the fjord, and, if it had not been for all the young ice, 

 we should have got through it well. There were long continuous 

 lanes where the young ice now lay as bright as a mirror, and it 

 was so fresh from all the river-water that we could well use it for 

 cooking-ice. Close by the crack on the west side we heard some 

 walrus granting and bellowing ; but they were in such a hurry 

 to take to the water that we did not get within range. 



We pitched our tent in a valley with a river in it, and set off at 

 once to try and find a few hares. But it was almost fruitless work. 

 Fosheim did not see an animal ; I saw and shot a single hare. 



Next morning we began again, this time on the south side of 

 the valley. Fosheim's attempt at a hare succeeded in the end ; 

 but I saw no more game than on my sitting-room floor. I thought 

 it would be better worth while to make an ascent, and I accord- 

 ingly went up the high mountain inside of Ytre Eide. Nearly 

 every day lately we had been up on this high summit, which 

 towered proudly on the east side of the fjord, and to which we gave 

 the name of ' Borgen.' Outside the point, where the fjord was at 

 its narrowest, there had always been a lead, and this grew con- 

 tinually bigger. In the two or three days since I was last at 



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