GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



Etah. The point was to utilize the period before the Polar 

 darkness descended, wherefore I had borrowed a team of dogs 

 for Ajako, who, with two Etah sledges, started on the 19th of 

 September the same way across the inland-ice as that by which 

 we had come. Unfortunately, the ill-famed autumn storms 

 began immediately after his departure, and on the 27th of 

 September we all had the disappointment of seeing him return 

 without having been able to reach his goal. He said that up 

 on the glacier they had been weather-bound for a whole week, 

 during violent drifts of snow, and as the dog food was exhausted 

 and their own provision almost eaten up, they had been forced 

 to turn back. On this journey Ajako and his companions had 

 been provisioned chiefly with walrus, which he himself had shot 

 during the stay at Etah. It was not possible to procure more 

 dog food for a quick fresh start and a prolonged absence, and 

 this was the reason why we found ourselves forced to fetch 

 meat from neighbourhoods with ampler supplies on the other 

 side of the inland-ice. 



Koch was given the task to go north and carry out the work 

 already mentioned, as soon as the necessary outfit was ready. 

 By Igdluluarssuit and Ulugssat I succeeded in the course of a 

 week, by borrowing and buying, in finding outfits for Ajako 

 and Bosun, both with regard to dogs and clothes ; they then left 

 immediately to fetch, via Etah, the collections by Humboldt's 

 Glacier, which could now be reached by the ocean-ice. But 

 Koch's clothes were not yet ready, and as it took a longer time 

 than originally estimated to get into communication with 

 Freuchen, I told Koch to let Ajako and the others drive up for 

 the collections whilst he himself was to await Freuchen's arrival. 

 In the company of the latter he was then, when his own outfit 

 was ready, to drive up to the clough to the north-east of Cape 

 Scott to bury Dr. Wulff. 



In various ways, however, the sledges were delayed, and 

 when at last they reached Etah, with Freuchen still absent and 

 Koch's outfit unfinished, Koch was of the opinion that the day- 

 light was already now so weak that it was high time to start. 

 Resolute as always, he decided to accompany Ajako, and 

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