348 NEW LAND. 



had taken up their position in a long line of battle. The biggest 

 of the oxen took its stand about fifty paces in the van, and began 

 the fight alone. Three of Isachsen's dogs went straight for it. 

 The first of them was ' Snipa.' The ox ran one of its horns right 

 through the animal, behind the shoulder, and tossed it several 

 yards into the air. Before ' Snipa ' came down again the next dog 

 was on the ox's horn, and the moment afterwards number three. 

 The two first were as dead as they could be ; only the third survived 

 the catastrophe. Then at last the shooters came up and made 

 an end of the infuriated ox, and afterwards of the whole herd. 



They had had excessively bad weather, and had not been able 

 to skin more than ten of the oxen. Those that were brought on 

 board were all unskinned. Provisioned for seven days, the 

 shooters started northward again on Monday the 14th, along with 

 Baumann and Hassel, to finish carrying the meat. They returned 

 on Saturday the 19th. They had driven the meat across the 

 isthmus in two instalments, but in order to bring all of it on board 

 in one trip, including heads and skins, they had left some of their 

 impedimenta behind at the mouth of the fjord, and this Schei and 

 Isachsen fetched the next day, together with some kennel-doors and 

 different articles of wood which had been lying there since the 

 winter before. 



This year too we had our hands full of work. As the preceding 

 winter, so again this, Olsen had extensive orders for cooking- vessels 

 and different other things for the sledge-journeys. 



When Peder began his ice measurements on October 15, he 

 found that the ice this year was 22 inches thick against 14 

 inches on the same date of the previous year a not inconsiderable 

 difference. The same day Stolz came on board wet through. On 

 the way to the ' Fram ' to fetch some things which they had 

 run short of out there, he had fallen into a lane up to his 

 waist. It was rather a cold pleasure at this time of year. He 

 told us that twenty loads of walrus-meat had already been 

 driven across the neck. The two at Ytre Eide had orders to 

 fetch a cask of spirit and different material which had been 

 collected, and which had been lying at the mouth of the fjord 



