NANSEN'S EXPEDITION (1895) 221 



tracks were seen. On the 25th the latitude was found to 

 be 82° 52', and yet there was no land in sight. Payer had 

 supposed Petermann Land to be in latitude 83°. 



The first bird was seen on 29th May, and seals made 

 their appearance soon afterwards. On the last day of 

 May only seven dogs remained. On the 2nd of June it was 

 found that it was necessary to make use of the kayaks, 

 and preparations were made to put them in proper order. 

 The covers were patched and the frames relashed. It 

 was not until the 8th of June that everything was ready 

 for a fresh start, and then it was found that all the lanes 

 had closed, so that the kayaks were not yet required. 

 For the first time the temperature rose above the freezing- 

 point on 6th June. 



The travelling was now extremely difficult, and they 

 had to be satisfied with journeys of 1 and 2 miles 

 daily. Sometimes it was found that they had drifted 

 about as far northward as they had travelled southward, 

 and it became a serious question whether they were likely 

 to reach land. Although about the latitude of Cape 

 Fligely, there was no appearance of land, and Nansen was 

 in great difficulty over his longitude, due to the time 

 when the chronometers ran down. He calculated and 

 recalculated his observations without making the matter 

 any more clear. Sometimes he thought he might be east 

 of Cape Fligely, and sometimes that he might be to the 

 west. 



About the middle of June, three months after they 

 left the Fram, they began to see signs of returning life. 

 Little auks were numerous, more bear-tracks were seen, 

 and on the 22nd June they were fortunate enough to kill 

 a seal. This seal was one of the large bearded variety 

 (Phoca barbata), and supplied sufficient food and fuel to 

 last a month. 



The killing of the seal furnished a very exciting incident. 



