GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



our comrades half their dogs ? I was ready to give up the idea 

 of reaching as far as Cape Morris Jesup or Cape Bridgeman, 

 which had been my goal the whole time. But de Long Fjord? 

 How very, very reluctantly would I relinquish that hope ! It 

 would be with a heavy heart that I, after all I had staked 

 on this expedition, would go home without having been able to 

 carry through my programme. The great main fjords and the 

 north coast were now charted ; and dearly we had paid for that 

 work, because of the scarcity of game, and because of fog and 

 deep snow. And now de Long Fjord? From our present 

 camp to that field of work the distance is only about 100 kilo- 

 metres, but if we do not get any hunting we shall probably lose 

 all our dogs. 



At five o'clock in the afternoon I make tea, and call Ajako 

 and Bosun, who have both slept soundly, refusing to be dis- 

 turbed by uncharted fjords and much too uncertain future 

 possibilities. I consider it my duty to make the position clear 

 to them, and to point out what significance it will have for the 

 expedition if they succeed in procuring meat in this place. 



The fog yet lies across the mountain-tops, and the barometer 

 continues to fall, steadily and inconsiderately ; but a light 

 breeze has lifted the haze somewhat, so that the ice and the 

 foot of the mountains are visible, and I send the two plucky 

 hunters out. 



June 17th. — At two o'clock in the morning of the 17th they 

 return, Ajako with a giant seal, Bosun literally dressed in 

 newly-killed game, with one goose, three hares, and eight 

 ptarmigan. 



Once more we are saved from a serious situation. Never 

 has booty been brought to our tent which had such a decisive 

 significance for the result of the expedition, and I am filled 

 with happy gratitude to the fate which has so kindly favoured 

 the two young Eskimos in this desert, where the others had to 

 give up. 



Without risking too much, we may now continue our push 

 towards de Long Fjord, and we furthermore cache two or 

 three meals for each team on this spot. We celebrate our good 

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