396 NEW LAND. 



inextricable tangles, and were ready to tear each other to pieces at 

 any moment. I had to go out to see to them over and over again. 



At midnight, between June 3 and 4, we drove westward again, 

 as Schei wished to examine some glaciers in Uvefjord. The ice 

 was bright, and there was a stiff wind, so it is needless to say 

 how we went : dogs, sledges, and their appurtenances were swept 

 and carried along, and we had hardly time to breathe. Across the 

 sound ran a rather broad lane, which in ordinary circumstances 

 would have been bad enough, but now caused us the greatest 

 possible trouble. This was again the dogs' fault, who would obey 

 only one voice, and that the great one love. 



Whereas in Heureka Sound, where there had been a great deal 

 of wind for a long time, hardly a sign of any thaw was to be seen, 

 in Uvefjord, which was sheltered, it was so advanced that we 

 could hardly get along. We had not gone half a mile up the 

 fjord when our way was marked by spots of blood from the 

 dogs' feet, but since we had started to drive inwards we did not 

 mean to give up until we had reached at any rate the outermost 

 glacier. 



Our baggage was wet through, but matters were still worse when 

 it came to crossing the broad land channel in order to reach land. 

 As soon as the dogs discovered we were going ashore, they became 

 absolutely unmanageable. They made a rush for the channel and 

 began to swim it, with the loads and sledges behind them. The 

 only thing I could do was to kneel on the top of the baggage, 

 and try to balance the tall load as well as I was able. How many 

 times I was within an ace of falling into the water I cannot say, but 

 I know that the load was more under than above it. Happily it 

 was good drying weather, so that, though some of the things were 

 wet through, it did not so much matter. We just spread them out 

 on the sand, and they were very soon dry again. 



While Schei measured the glaciers, with the sweat of his brow, 

 I took my gun and walked up the large stretches of sand. I did not 

 see a living thing of any kind, either geese or anything else, that 

 could be shot, but I soon saw that the freshets were at their height in 

 there. There were waves on almost every stream. Schei described 

 the valley he visited as one of the prettiest places he had come 



