GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



A catastrophe had overtaken the expedition ; Wulff was 

 dead, fallen in the last fight for life. 



As soon as Koch and I could collect ourselves after this sad 

 meeting, he reported to me all that had happened since the 

 25th of August. In the following pages I give his written 

 report, which contains all the details : 



KOCiTS REPORT 



"On the 25th of August Wulff and I were for the last 

 time with Knud Rasmussen and Ajako. 



" The departure was to Wulff and me a happy one, because 

 it seemed to us that once more our future lay bright before us. 

 We believed that our comrades had strength enough to reach 

 people and bring help, and our experiences from Ajako 's hunt- 

 ing proved that in the vicinity there would be sufficient of hares 

 both for a couple of days' of rest and for a slow journey to- 

 wards Etah. 



" Of Ajako's five hares we cooked in the course of the day 

 of the 25th two panfuls ; some of the more meaty pieces, alto- 

 gether rather more than one hare, were put away as provisions 

 for our comrades' journey, and our meal thus represented nearly 

 a whole full-grown hare for each man. For the first time for a 

 long period I felt perfectly satiated, but Wulff had, as usual, 

 left his ration still unfinished at eight o'clock in the evening. 

 He gave me a piece, and, as I protested, he declared that it was 

 utterly impossible for him to eat any more. 



' During this meal he gave me a detailed description of his 

 physical condition. For the first time he used the expression 

 ' dying ' about himself — an expression which at the time seemed 

 to me extravagant, as, at the same time, he opined that with a 

 few days of rest and reindeer meat he would once more be ready 

 to continue the journey. 



' He spoke about the journey across the inland-ice as an 

 evil dream from which he had now awakened, and he was 

 awaiting the return of Inukitsoq and Bosun with impatient 

 2G0 



