A RACE WITH DEATH 



longing, as he took it absolutely for granted that they would 

 return with reindeer meat. 



"As I mentioned that perhaps for a while yet we would 

 have to content ourselves with hare meat, he waived this pos- 

 sibility aside, declaring that for a long time he had felt abso- 

 lutely disgusted at the sight of meat. But reindeer tallow 

 would soon put him on his feet again. 



" He talked a lot and was very lively, the subject generally 

 being the provisions which in future he would use on his jour- 

 neys. About midnight he asked me to boil some water, which 

 he wanted to drink hot before he went to sleep, as his fingers 

 felt cold ; he then covered himself up for the night and I went 

 to rest. 



" But all these new impressions affected me so that I could 

 not sleep, and at two o'clock in the morning I walked up the 

 mountain. I walked slowly and aimlessly, mainly to try what 

 strength I had got left. Up the first steep slopes every step 

 required a great output of energy, and I had to admit to myself 

 that I was very weak. From the mountain I saw a hare and I 

 climbed down again to our camp to fetch a gun, but the hare 

 was very shy, and I quickly gave up the hunt and returned to 

 the camp tired and hungry. The hunters were still absent, 

 and as Wulff was awake we decided to cook the dog-flesh which 

 was left over from the previous day on the glacier. 



"Wulff merely took a small bone, but he drank two big 

 mugs of the hot soup. 



At nine o'clock in the morning of the 26th I went to sleep 

 and only awoke when Inukitsoq stood by my side. The result 

 of the two days' hunting had been merely one hare, which was 

 eaten long ago. The hunt had failed entirely because of the 

 heavy fog which had lain on the terrain which they traversed. 

 Bosun had not much strength left and Inukitsoq also felt weary. 

 " Inukitsoq and I now discussed various plans, but in reality 

 there were only two to choose between. We must either break 

 up at once and go slowly in the direction of Marshall Bay — 

 where we might expect to meet people soon after our comrades 

 had reached Etah — making short daily marches, eating on the 



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