220 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



85° 30' N." On the 25th April fox-tracks which were 

 fresh were seen in the snow. This discovery raised the 

 question whether land could be near, but the weather was 

 so thick that it might have been near and could not be 

 seen. 



Open water in the form of lanes in the ice now became 

 more frequent, but Nansen was still reluctant to use the 

 kayaks. There were several large holes in them which 

 would require to be repaired, and in the present condition 

 of the ice Nansen believed that it would be difficult to 

 protect the bows of the kayaks from being cut, and in the 

 event of water getting in, ice would immediately form, and 

 to remove it would be impossible. 



On 3rd May the dogs had been reduced to sixteen. 

 Two days later the latitude was found to be 84° 31', and 

 longitude 66° 15' E. This was not so far south as Nansen 

 expected, but farther west. 



In some places the snow was very deep among the 

 rough ice, and as the snow-shoes had frequently to be 

 taken off for the purpose of helping the sledges over 

 difficulties, Nansen regretted that he had not also Indian 

 snow-shoes, which would have been of more use in such 

 circumstances. 



On the 14th May, during a storm, the opportunity was 

 taken to remove the load from one of the sledges which 

 was not now required. An attempt was made to use the 

 wood of the sledge as fuel, but after burning nearly the 

 whole of it and succeeding in obtaining only one pot of 

 boiling water, they gave it up as a failure, and went back 

 to the " Primus." 



They had for some time been expecting to see land 

 daily, but there was still no appearance of it. The open 

 lanes of water were causing more and more trouble. On 

 the 17th May a school of narwhals was seen in one of them, 

 but none was obtained. On the 19th May the first bear- 



