1 64 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



searching for firewood found a box containing two fish. 

 Nindemann was fortunate enough to seize a lemming, and 

 on this and the fish they made their supper. The fish 

 were almost rotten, but they were soon devoured. Next 

 day they made a start, but were driven back by drifting 

 snow to the hut, where they stayed another twenty-four 

 hours. 



On the morning of the 15th October another start 

 was made along the river-bank. The night was passed 

 in a kind of cave at the side of the river. Their supper 

 consisted of a piece of seal-skin pantaloons, which was 

 soaked in water and then burned to a crust. They 

 passed a wretched night. Next day they made for some 

 hills they saw in the distance. No willow could be found, 

 and a piece of seal-skin was their only food. They passed 

 the night in a ravine, where they dug a hole in the snow. 



On the 17th they struggled over streams and sand- 

 spits, and had again to pass the night in a hole in the 

 snow. The wind was too high to allow a fire, and it 

 was too cold to allow sleep. On the 18th they reached 

 a ruined hut almost filled with snow. They cleared out 

 sufficient to give them sleeping-room, and after taking 

 some willow-tea and a piece of seal-skin, they lay down 

 for the night. On the 19th they were so weak that they 

 had to rest about every five minutes. In the afternoon 

 they reached three huts, and in one of them was a kayak 

 containing something like sawdust. It was blue-moulded 

 and tasteless, but it was believed to be fish. As they 

 found nothing more, they ate it, and soon after they 

 had an attack of dysentery. They stayed in the hut all 

 day, and on the 21st found themselves too weak to move 

 farther. 



On the 22nd October they heard a noise outside, and 

 Nindemann, when he looked through a crack in the door, 

 saw something move, and thought it was a reindeer. He 



