THE LAST SUMMER. 431 



steam-winch, to prevent the ship from falling outwards. The 

 vessel only touched at her stern, while the bows were afloat, and 

 at low water on the bottom. After the lapse of a few hours 

 there was hardly any ice left in the fjord, and, had we been clear 

 now, we could have taken a good spurt. When it was nearly high 

 tide the vessel swung round again, and lay with her stern to the 

 current. The watch below were called, and we started to carry a 

 warp ; but when with great trouble we had rowed out the whole of 

 the heavy steel cable, and were just going to let go the anchor, the 

 ' Fram ' floated off as coolly as if it was the most natural thing 

 in the world. We at once steamed west towards the western cape 

 in Gaasefjord, to look for the dredgers. They had not been there. 

 The sledge they were to use, if they were compelled to go along the 

 ice-foot, was standing there untouched. They must therefore be 

 still farther west. We then followed a narrow laud channel, but 

 right out in Hvalrosfjord we were stopped by the drift-ice, which 

 came drifting east at terrific speed, and only got back to Gaasefjord 

 by the skin of our teeth. At Ytre Eide we fetched the boat, and 

 moored to an ice-floe out in the fjord. We kept a good look-out 

 from the crow's-nest, but saw nothing of our comrades ; and when, 

 on the night of July 31, the ice came drifting violently into the 

 fjord, the mate, Hassel, and I rowed ashore to Ytre Eide, and, for 

 safety's sake, left some provisions and petroleum there. 



This was a bad time ; we could not anchor, and, as we were 

 obliged to drift backwards and forwards with the ice, there was 

 nothing for it but to have steam up, or we might risk running 

 aground. However, we resolved to ^ try to anchor, and sounded 

 our way to an anchoring- place of twenty-five fathoms of water, a 

 little south of the ruins, put out a number of chains, and 

 extinguished the fires. 



Since leaving winter quarters we had kept the ordinary 

 watches, and, according to good old sea custom, had had coffee at 

 middle watch. We had now only a single watch on duty at a 

 time, but he, of course, had strict orders to turn us out when a 

 dangerous floe or anything else of the kind was bearing down on 

 us. At the same time, the coffee was stopped, and tea substituted 

 for those who liked it. 



