NANSEN'S EXPEDITION (1895) 219 



found in a fish-flour sack which had to be sewed up ; and 

 the dogs 1 traces had to be disentangled with great diffi- 

 culty. On the 1st April they kept on the move so long 

 that it was too late to wind up their chronometers. 

 Johansen's had stopped altogether, but Nansen's was 

 still ticking. The ice was now becoming worse and worse, 

 and Nansen began to have doubts as to the wisdom of 

 going northwards much longer. 



On the 3rd April the second dog was killed as food for 

 the others. Nansen now calculated that the distance to 

 Franz-Josef Land was three times as far as the distance 

 they had come. He saw that it was impossible to reach 

 the Pole or its immediate vicinity over the ice they were 

 encountering, with the dogs they had. He now wished 

 that the number of dogs had been much greater. On 

 4th April the latitude was 86° 3'. On the 8th April, 

 Nansen finally decided to return and shape his course for 

 Cape Fligely, in Franz-Josef Land, about 450 miles distant. 

 The latitude of the farthest north point was found to be 

 86° 13-6', and the longitude about 95° E. 



During the first few days on the return journey they 

 met with comparatively level ice, much to their surprise ; 

 but they soon began to meet more open lanes. On the 

 12th April they had the misfortune to let their chrono- 

 meters run down. This was the cause of much worry 

 afterwards. On 16th April, Nansen calculated that they 

 were 60 miles on their way home. The temperature had 

 now risen to about 15° below zero, and they considered 

 this mild. A dog had to be killed every few days in 

 order to feed the others. They considered this slaughter- 

 ing of the faithful animals a horrible affair, but it was 

 an absolute necessity. 



On the 21st April they came across an immense piece 

 of timber sticking out of the ice. Nansen believed it to 

 be Siberian larch. Johansen marked it "F. N., H. J., 



