196 FARTHEST NORTH 



once one pair can be dried in the sun. They have been 

 wet the whole way, and it lias made them the worse for 

 wear." 



The ice was now growing very bad again and our 

 marches shorter. On Friday, May 3d, I write in my 

 diary : " We did not do so good a day's work yesterday 

 as we expected, although we made some progress. The 

 ice was flat and the going good at one time, and w^e kept 

 steadily at it for four hours or so ; but then came several 

 reaches with lanes and rubble - ice, which, however, we 

 managed to pull through, though the ice w^as often pack- 

 ins: under our feet. Bv deo^rees the wind from the south- 

 east increased, and while we were having dinner it veered 

 round to an easterly direction and became rather strong. 

 The ice, too, grew worse, with channels and rubble, and 

 when the wind reached a velocity of 29 to 33 feet in the 

 second, and a driving snow-storm set in, completely oblit- 

 erating everything around us, stumbling along through 

 it all became anything but attractive. After being de- 

 layed several times by newly formed rubble, I saw that 

 the only sensible thing to be done was to camp, if we 

 could find a sheltered spot. This was easier said than 

 done, as the weather was so thick we could hardly see 

 anything; but at last w^e found a suitable place, and, well 

 content to be under shelter, ate our ' fiskegratin,' and 

 crept into the bag, while the wind rattled the tent walls 

 and made drifts round us outside. We had been con- 

 strained to pitch our tent close beside a new ridge, which 



