VARDO TO KOLGUEV 29 



far as one could see from the bridge, the blocks were 

 pretty much welded together. 



But round the edge of the pack itself all was movement. 

 For the ice here was of course quite loose in character, 

 and the floating blocks were spinning round as they 

 struck one another, forming and re-forming little patches 

 of clear water which closed and opened ceaselessly. 



Every Arctic seaman who has spoken to me of this 

 since, has remarked that the ice was unusually late in 

 those seas this year. And it certainly was rather a facer 

 to have met with it so soon. 



A Hammerfest owner of walrus sloops had told me 

 the year before that I should have nothing whatever to 

 do with ice at this time of year. And of course our 

 little craft was in no way fitted for such an encounter. 

 Had it come to a choice of forcing a passage or of retreat 

 we must have turned tail. But fortunately it never came 

 to that. 



When we first came up on deck we were steering- 

 north-east, with the Kanin coast on our starboard quarter, 

 having just turned the most westerly point of this first 

 ice at 68° 34' N., 44° 32' E. 



After this we had rather an in-and-out bit of work as 

 we followed the ice round. Sometimes it led us north-east, 

 sometimes due north, and then again we would have to 

 take a north-westerly course. 



At length we reached (as near as we could make it) 

 latitude 68° 57', and here we found a wide open bight, 



