GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



through its brain ; but in spite of all our speed it sank like a 

 stone before we had time to touch it. 



It blew from north-west and a fog set in ; in an instant the 

 summer was as if blown out of the fjord, and as the sun disap- 

 peared we felt so cold in our wet clothes that our teeth started 

 chattering. Off we went through ice and water, but in the 

 midst of our hurry we must stop frequently to renew the 

 kamiks of the dogs, which were being worn out on the rough 

 ice. Without their shoes the dogs would have big wounds on 

 the pads of their feet within a few minutes, and thus be of no 

 use for the remainder of the journey ; so we tied on their 

 kamiks with hands swollen and stiff from the cold water. As soon 

 as possible we continued inward, and to our joy we found that 

 going was better than yesterday. The wind rushed round in the 

 fjord in a funny way. It entered as a south-easter on the south 

 side of the fjord and left it as a north-wester along the northern 

 shore. We were in the middle of the ring, and we felt exactly 

 as if we were on a merry-go-round. 



We followed the shore-ice inward and were stopped by a 

 shout from land. Through the fog we discerned Bosun sitting 

 on a big stone just inside the belt of the tidal waters, wildly 

 gesticulating as is the custom of the Eskimo when he has an 

 important communication to deliver. As soon as we ap- 

 proached we understood that he had really important news. He 

 had just shot a seal, which lay plainly visible in low water. 

 He also told that on the way he had shot seven hares. This 

 put new life into all of us. A long stake was hurriedly formed 

 from the tent poles, and at the end of this the point of a har- 

 poon was fixed, to be run into the seal so that we could haul 

 it up by the aid of the line fixed to the harpoon. It was the 

 first time that a killed seal had sunk in a spot where it was 

 visible, and we already sensed the taste of its delicious meat in 

 our mouths and the warmth of its blubber in our bodies. A 

 ferry was made, but at the very moment the improvised har- 

 poon entered the water, the seal, as if seized by an invisible 

 hand, rolled out and disappeared in the deep. 



We did not swear on this occasion, our disappointment was 

 192 



