356 NEW LAND. 



considerably heavier than heretofore. The patent food was nearly 

 at an end, and we had to take to stock-fish. Knowing as we did 

 that bears were to be found in Norskebugten and the tracts north- 

 wards towards Bjornekap and Heureka Sound, we had every 

 reason to suppose that it was not worth while to drag blubber and 

 meat with us from the ship. We contented ourselves with stock- 

 fish only, though even that made a great difference in weight. 

 But in Norskebugten we discovered, to our infinite regret, that all 

 years are not equally good bear years. We waited day after day 

 to get hold of one, but never saw so much as the track of a bear. 

 The dogs lost flesh from their hard work, and every day were 

 less able to pull. Still we worked our way up to the outer 

 part of Heureka Sound, and on April 8 pitched our tent at 

 ' Hareneset ' (Hare Point). The dogs were quite exhausted 

 already, and I thought it better that Baumann and the mate 

 should return, and we would try to manage without the cache. 

 At the place where we pitched our camp was a regular bears' 

 highway, and the point south of us, where the land trended east- 

 ward to Baumann Fjord, consequently acquired the name of 

 ' Bjornesvingen,' or ' Bear Corner.' I thought it was worth while 

 to stay here for a day and try to shoot a bear, and next day the 

 weather was not so very bad, while the sun peeped out now and 

 again. The two others went off in good time, and hoped to reach 

 Bjornekaplandet by evening. After saying good-bye to them, Schei 

 and I went ashore to look for hares. The best time of day for them 

 was over, but nevertheless we shot a few, and decided to stay where 

 we were the following day. Altogether we shot seven and a half 

 brace there. We kept a few bits for ourselves, but most was given 

 to the dogs, and they really improved a good deal during this time. 



No bear, but bad going and very bad weather, was the order 

 of the following days, and we were obliged to lie to for a couple of 

 days under some rocks. It blew so hard that ice and land were 

 smoking all the way down the sound. 



On April 16 we stopped fairly early in the evening in the lee 

 of a point. Time after time we had looked into the short valleys 

 on our way northward, to see what they had to offer, but not a 

 single animal could we discover ; and along the shore where before 



